The once flourishing South American nation of Venezuela has been descending into an economic disaster over the last few years. The collective government of Hugo Chavez has been shadowed by current President Nicolás Maduro, and the economic policies put in place has transformed a country with more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia into a literal hell on Earth.
Rise is rampant as prices for consumer goods have skyrocketed an enormous 741% from early 2016 to early 2017. Experts are anticipating the rate of inflation to really hit 1600% later this year.
Into this maelstrom steps an unlikely hope for the masses: Bitcoin. Many starving Venezuelans are now mining the digital currency in order to just survive.
Express.co.uk has loomed Amazon for comment over the allegations they are failing to implement sufficient checks on new users. The most disastrous economic disasters in history as inflation reaches unparalleled levels and normal food items become almost priceless and due to this economic turmoil, Venezuelans are being forced to turn to unconventional means to make ends meet and, in an unusual fad, they are using video games to make a profit – despite only tiny amounts of money being available.
In an outlandish concept known as “gold farming”, Venezuelans are “farming gold” in online fantasy games such as RuneScape and Tibia. It is forbidden to conduct real-world trading within RuneScape because it goes against the spirit of the game. But the practice has become so popular with Venezuelans they are now contributing to inflation inside the virtual world.
The insider said: “They defeat the economy of the game.”
Efrain Peña, 29, who plays games to support his wife and child, previously told Bloomberg: “We’ve never made this much before.
“What job can match what we’re making now?”
Enegebe Sención, 30, an unemployed computer programmer who played Tibia to support his family, said: “It’s shameful. I never thought game currency would be worth more than that of our country.”
Earlier this year the Venezuelan government slashed five zeros from the Venezuelan bolivar in a bid to slow down rampant hyperinflation.
But the efforts did little to thwart the problem, as the economy continues to spiral out of control – forcing hungry Venezuelans to travel to new nations in search of a better life.
In September, Venezuela’s annual inflation hit 488,865 percent in a sign the economy is not yet recovering as hyperinflation continues to accelerate amid a wider economic collapse.
