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Cubans flock to cryptocurrency to skirt sanctions

Reuters Videos

Jason Sanchez owns a cell phone repair shop in Havana.

Last year he was able to start buying spare parts online- for the very first time- using Bitcoin...

Cubans like Sanchez are welcoming the growing use of cryptocurrencies on the communist run island - which in many ways remains stuck in the past.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) OWNER OF MOBILE PHONE REPAIR SHOP WHO USES CRYPTOCURRENCY, JASON SANCHEZ, SAYING:

"For Cubans (mobile phones) have opened up doors that are normally shut. It's removed internet censorship and with cryptocurrency there's an end to restrictions on credit cards, on Mastercard, Visa, there is more freedom to buy in other markets."

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Cubans are also flocking to cryptocurrencies to skirt U.S. sanctions...

A decades-old U.S. trade embargo cuts Cubans off from international financial markets...

Residents of the island cannot obtain credit or debit cards for international use, making it a challenge for them to purchase their first installment of cryptocurrency.

Often the way around this is for the buyer to hand over cash and the bitcoin dealer to carry out the cryptocurrency transaction on a laptop or phone.

Others use local Cuban platforms like CubaCripto to trade digital currencies.

Alex Sobrino- who created the service estimates some 10,000 Cubans are using it.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FOUNDER OF CUBACRIPTO, ALEX SOBRINO, SAYING:

"We use cryptocurrencies to recharge phones, to make purchases on some websites that accept cryptocurrency. There are some guys who have told me that they have made hotel reservations and other things with cryptocurrency.

But cryptocurrency trading still falls in gray legal territory in Cuba.

(SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) FOUNDER OF CUBACRYPTO, ALEX SOBRINO, SAYING:

"What we're afraid of is that the government will restrict us, prohibit certain things, and say that this is illicit."

Others fear that the Cuban government may create a national cryptocurrency, following in the footsteps of other countries under U.S. sanctions like Venezuela and Iran....while banning other digital currencies.