Cryptobuyer, a crypto services startup for Latin America, together with the analysis company Blockstream and Bitcoin advisor Anibal Garrido, reported that they successfully installed the first Bitcoin node connected to a satellite network in Venezuelan territory.
The connection of this node to the Blockstream satellite network offers Venezuelans the possibility of accessing the Bitcoin network without having internet. The satellite node was deployed by Anibal Garrido, a provider of cryptocurrency training courses, with the assistance of Álvaro Pérez, a Venezuelan programmer, while financial and logistical support goes by CryptoBuyer.
“We downloaded the entire Bitcoin Blockchain and successfully carried out the first transaction through a Bitcoin satellite node in our country on September 23, from the city of Valencia,” said Álvaro Pérez. “We receive Bitcoin through the satellite connection without any internet connection. It was a great achievement”.
Jorge Farías, CEO of CryptoBuyer, commented that “this project arose from our company’s vision of offering real and tangible products that solve real-world problems.”For example, we already deployed Bitcoin ATMs and Bitcoin POS terminals throughout the region, and we also launched a crypto-to-fiat exchange platform. Now with the Bitcoin satellite node, we address local internet connectivity issues in Venezuela. Users cannot afford to get hacked from the Bitcoin network”.
However, this would not be the first or the only one. The Medium publication notes that the installation of additional nodes will continue in Caracas (the capital) and in Bolívar state (in the south), to offer coverage throughout the country.
CryptoBuyer indicates that users who are in the vicinity of the satellite nodes will connect through local mesh networks that are in the testing phase at this time. The possibility of accessing the Bitcoin network represents a real relief for Venezuelans who have one of the worst internet connections in the world. The constant power outages and failures in the few Internet providers make connectivity in Venezuela inconvenient on a day-to-day basis.
Only this week electrical failures were registered in at least 14 states of the country, including Caracas. And according to official figures, only 44% of Venezuelans have an internet connection, 10% less than the average for the region according to the Internet Work Stats study.
In addition to instability, Venezuelans must also struggle with the slowness of the connection. While the average speed in the region is 5mbps, that of Venezuela is just 1.7 Mbps. The Ookla company ranks the Caribbean country as the slowest connection, and another study by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepal) describes it as the worst connection in Latin America.
By: Jenson Nuñez.
