The thought of a very rich man from one of the most developed countries in the world, giving away tons of BTC in an attempt to "solve Venesuela's problems" strikes me as arrogant and naive. The heart is in the right place. But different countries work differently. It would take someone who knows a lot about Venezuela to solve Venezuela's problems.<p>Take "PlayPump" as a word of caution. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout_PlayPump" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundabout_PlayPump</a><p>Massive charity handouts almost always end in dismal failure. Because the philanthropists don't understand the core problem, and thus the money is inevitably wasted.<p>----------------<p>Instead, Bill Gate's model of "Economic Philanthropy" looks like it can truly scale. Bill Gates <i>sells</i> malaria nets and vaccines to the people of Africa. Why?<p>Because if the customer doesn't want to pay for it, its probably because the customer <i>knows something you don't know</i>. Malaria Nets were the solution: the people of Africa buys it, and that's how we know that its a good solution.<p>Bitcoin is <i>already</i> a potential solution to the people of Venezuela. If the people of Venezuela believed in Bitcoin, they'd be buying it. They're not dumb. Very likely, for reasons unbeknownst to us, they've chosen to do something else. We have to trust THEIR decision on this. After all, Venezuelan citizens are living in the crisis. They likely know more about their own situation than any Goldman Sachs executive who has lived in the USA.<p>Alternatively: if BTC is a solution and Venezuelan citizens are buying up BTC, then the problem will solve itself without need of a handout. IIRC, I've heard some stories about some businessmen in Venezuela using BTC before. But I live thousands of miles away: its hard for me to know if its an isolated curiosity or something that really is permeating the nation.<p>Any valid solution that benefits a Venezuelan Citizen, would allow us to "sell" said solution to those citizens. One-sided charity efforts are often doomed to failure.