- Venezuela blocks Binance and X amid election unrest, impacting crypto users.
- Internet restrictions highlight growing censorship and political tensions.
- Devalued bolivar increases reliance on Binance’s P2P services for currency exchange.
Amidst uncertainties following the Venezuelan Presidential election, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is facing access restrictions. While the Venezuelan government’s Internet Service Provider (ISP), CANTV, has reportedly blocked public access to many prominent platforms, including Binance, the exchange has assured its users that their funds are safe.
The DNS block on Binance was initially detected by the local censorship platform VE sin Filtro. In an X post dated August 10, VE sin Filtro revealed that the restrictions on Binance could impact the normal operation of its website and mobile application. In a subsequent post, the platform recommended using a VPN to gain access to these blocked websites.
For context, Venezuela has had a rigid political climate since its Presidential election on July 28. Though the government announced Nicolas Maduro’s victory, who has been President since 2013, the party did not publish its proof. Soon, the opposition party published a detailed election report, pointing out that their leader, Edmundo González, had won the election.
While the election results remain unclear, Venezuela began experiencing multiple protests, leading to political unrest. Soon, the public was denied internet access to certain platforms, including X (formerly Twitter), Signal, MercadoLibre, and Binance.
Notably, Binance was very popular in Venezuela for its uses beyond cryptocurrency speculation or trading. The public depended on Binance’s peer-to-peer (P2P) service to exchange their local currency for stablecoins or Bitcoins, as their currency, the bolivar, has been significantly devalued.
Venezuela temporarily banning the use of platform X was more severe, as Maduro called for a 10-day block to end the spread of violence and hatred across the platform. While he signed a document authorizing telecom regulator Conatel to block X, Maduro shared an X post about the same platform’s 10-day block.
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