banca

The Banking Association of Venezuela launched this October the second edition of its Month of Financial Education, and this time the effort doesn’t stay in the conference hall. The program goes into high school classrooms and rises to university auditoriums with an underlying idea: that Venezuelans learn to manage their money before their money manages them. At PitbullChain, we celebrate the move, but we can’t ignore the elephant in the room: the P2P market and USDT, which move the real economy of millions of Venezuelans every day, don’t show up anywhere on the agenda.

## The bank moves up to the counter
R4 Microfinance Bank has just announced a feature which, at first glance, seems like just another operational improvement: integrating all of its online banking services directly into the checkout terminals of its affiliated merchants. But on closer inspection, this move has a bigger impact than it seems—especially in a country where cash is scarce, the dollar has become a daily-use currency, and P2P with USDT is already a habit for thousands of Venezuelans.

## Social credit program with direct subsidy
The Venezuelan Banking Association (ABV) announced the active participation of private banks in the social credit plan for families that lost their homes after the earthquake on June 24. The president of the ABV, Pedro Pacheco Rodríguez, explained that the government will cover between 50% and 80% of the subsidized cost of the properties, depending on the price. This measure aims to speed up the processing of applications and provide a supportive response to those affected.

📊 A postseason that defies the money playbook
Major League Baseball’s American League is teaching a lesson that goes far beyond the diamond. Three of the four teams battling for a spot in the World Series operate with payrolls of just around $100 million, while the richest organization in all of baseball, the New York Yankees, with a roster valued at about $308 million, is on the ropes after losing to the Tampa Bay Rays, who spend close to $95 million. The difference between the two payrolls is more than $200 million, and yet the series is tilting toward the team with the tighter budget.

In an unusual move, Bancamiga is showing negative spreads of up to -14.55% in the Venezuelan P2P market.
📊 What is a negative spread?
A negative spread occurs when the purchase price is LOWER than the sale price. This seems counterintuitive, but it has an explanation.
📈 Bancamiga’s numbers
• Purchase price: Bs. 632.45 per USDT
• Sale price: Bs. 740.20 per USDT
• Spread: -14.55%
🔎 Why does this happen?
💰 1. High competition among merchants
Bancamiga has the highest number of active merchants, which creates aggressive competition.

There is a piece of data that better reflects how the economy works in Venezuela than any macroeconomic report: every trip to the supermarket costs the shopper almost an hour of their day. That’s what Ítalo Atencio, president of the National Association of Supermarkets and Self-Services (ANSA), said in a televised interview where he broke down the country’s consumption habits. For PitbullChain, these figures are not just a snapshot of shelves and aisles: they are the map where today’s Venezuelan crypto P2P market moves.

📊 A campaign that arrives late but makes the invisible visible
This Monday, Mercantil presented its first public campaign about the earthquakes of June 24: 'Reconstruction takes longer. Let's go.' With portraits of five Venezuelans who lost everything and are still standing, the financial institution seeks to keep attention on the issue after the media spotlight has moved on. It's a commendable gesture, but in the PitbullChain ecosystem we ask ourselves: what’s behind the words?
Venezuela’s traditional banking system, historically slow and centralized, is only now talking about reconstruction. Meanwhile, in the neighborhoods, in the lines, and on the phones of millions of Venezuelans, reconstruction isn’t announced with billboards: it happens through P2P transfers, with USDT, with dollars that enter via digital wallets and are converted into bolívares within minutes.

The diplomatic week in September kicks off with a piece of information that shook conversations in the Telegram and WhatsApp groups where the Venezuelan P2P market moves: the United Nations included the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, in the official list of speakers for the 81st session of the General Assembly, with the label «H.S.» that the organization reserves for heads of State.
According to the agenda released by the multilateral organization, the Venezuelan intervention was scheduled for Thursday, September 24, in the second time slot of the day (from 3:00 to 9:00 p.m.), in the third turn of that session, after Uruguay and Senegal. The detail is not trivial for those who keep a close watch on the country’s political pulse: the protocol record confirms a de facto recognition of rank that, beyond symbolism, fuels economic expectations.

## An agreement with the scent of reactivation but a taste of doubt
The oil agreement between Venezuela and the United States is once again stirring economic expectations. For the agricultural sector, however, it is not just a matter of seeing crude exports grow. Fedenaga and Fedeagro have shared a direct message: if those dollars do not reach food production, the multiplier effect will fall short.
The request is clear and forceful. The unions are asking the government to prioritize the injection of direct resources into agricultural and livestock activity. They are not asking for subsidies or handouts, but for a true investment strategy that allows Venezuela's countryside to overcome the paralysis it has been dragging on for years. But as always happens in Venezuela, the gap between rhetoric and reality is measured in bolivars, or better yet, in dollars and cryptocurrencies.

## A geopolitical shift with global economic impact
The announcement of an energy alliance between the United States and Venezuela has shaken the geopolitical board. Not only because of what it means for crude oil production, but because it redefines the rules of the international financial game. For China, one of the country’s largest creditors, the agreement is a direct blow to its strategy for recovering billions in debts.
For decades, Venezuela was the main recipient of Chinese loans in Latin America. Oil in exchange for money, a simple equation that is now becoming more complicated. It is estimated that Chinese state-owned banks granted the country at least 60 billion dollars through 2015, and the outstanding debt would exceed 10 billion. With the arrival of the U.S. company North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), control of the oil fields changes hands, and with it, the possibility that Beijing can collect through crude oil.

## The oil reactivation and its domino effect on the Venezuelan economy
The announced incursion by Colombian oil services companies in Venezuela, backed by recent international agreements for exploration and production, represents a turning point for the national economy. The idea that companies such as those grouped under Campetrol will set up operations to complement local capacity and restore electrical and energy infrastructure suggests a flow of foreign direct investment that could translate into more dollars circulating in the country.