Why are Venezuelans seeking refuge in crypto-currencies?

[MRubio]

2. I think you left off a zero, not that it really matters.

And, as one would expect, the few products actually produced here have inflated very little compared to everything else.

An example.

I buy corn every year, 30-40 metric tons and store it raw in steel and plastic drums. Months later we process the stuff and sell it locally. The townspeople use the final product to make arepas, the national food so to speak.

Anyway, looking at my notes from last October-November when I was buying raw corn, and calculating the value in dollars based on the then-current exchange rate, I paid anywhere from $0.09 to $0.15 for a kilo of corn depending on the quality of the product and the volume of the purchase. The exchange rate varied from a low of 113 bs/$ when I got started on 11 October to 294 bs/$ when I reached capacity on 19 November.

Today, raw corn can be bought in reasonable volumes for 600 bs S/kilo. Yeah, I've seen some higher quotes, but if one seriously looks for the best price today, 600 bs/kilo should be the max one would have to pay. Today's exchange rate? On DolarToday, which is the same source I've used while buying the corn, it's 3400 bsS/$.

So 600/3400 equals 0.178.......or $0.18 for a kilo of corn. Compare that to what I paid back in Oct-Nov.

I've tried to explain to these folks that if they'd produce what they need instead of depending on imports for every damned thing they need, they wouldn't have this devastating inflation, a lot more people would be gainfully employed, and they wouldn't be so dependent on the rest pf the world. But, I'm just one lonely voice.