Dash Announces SMS-Based Cryptocurrency Transaction Service

Dash Text will help Venezuelans without access to smartphones or the internet have access to crypto transactions, which are becoming increasingly popular in the country.

Venezuelans can now exchange cryptocurrency using an SMS-based service. Dash launched this week its new payment service that will allow Venezuelans who do not have access to smartphones or the internet, unprecedented access to crypto transfers. The service will be called Dash Text.

Cryptocurrencies have become a vital part of Venezuelan life – on the one hand, the government recently launched the Petro coin as an attempt to replace the bolivar, and on the other, many struggling citizens rely on cryptocurrency transactions and donations in an effort to avoid storing any money in the untrustworthy bolivar.

Venezuela turns to cryptos

Venezuelans are increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies, and by launching a text-based transaction service, Dash will try to appeal to Venezuelans and extend the crypto market to people who are impoverished or off the grid, without access to the internet every day.

Extending transaction services to those people who are in the direst of straits is potentially a wise business move, but it is also in many ways humanitarian. There have been a number of well-publicized incidents of Venezuelans benefitting from crypto transfers online, one man on Reddit appealed to the forum for crypto donations and ended up getting enough money to buy groceries for more than a week.

It was reported several months ago that Dash was being adopted at a higher rate in Venezuela due to the economic crisis. It has become so popular that some big multinational companies now accept payments in Dash – such as Subway and Calvin Klein.

The service is expected to be used abroad

In August, Dash’s CEO, Ryan Taylor, commented on the rise of Venezuelan merchants on DiscoverDash.com. According to him, the number of Venezuelan merchants goes up twice as fast as the average country’s number.

With enthusiasm for cryptocurrency in the country, Dash’s new SMS-based service looks set to be widely adopted. For one, the service probably won’t only be used by Venezuelans domestically. It could also be a very attractive option for Venezuelans abroad looking to send money back home – they already send over $2 billion  annually in remittances. International bank transfers in actual currency have already become increasingly unattractive to the risks of hyperinflation.

So, Dash looks to have made a smart business move and a potentially impactful humanitarian one by launching this SMS-based service.