The debate that changed everything
In recent months, the debate on exchange rates in Cuba's informal market has regained momentum. It all began when Sandro Castro, grandson of the late dictator Fidel Castro, publicly accused the independent media outlet elTOQUE of manipulating the exchange rates published daily. According to his statements, the media would be directly responsible for the increase in the price of the dollar and other currencies.
However, beyond political discourse or personal attacks, what happened has revealed something much more important: the structural fragility of Cuba's informal currency market and the concentration of informational power in a single source.
elTOQUE's role: between reference and monopoly
elTOQUE has defended its position by claiming that its methodology is transparent and audited by academics, including from the University of Havana. Its rate—the "Representative Rate of the Informal Market"—is calculated from monitoring offers and demands on social networks and digital platforms. However, the media itself acknowledges that its data is based on publications, not real transactions, and that its algorithm only reflects market trends, not verified operations.
The problem lies in the fact that elTOQUE has become, de facto, the only national reference for knowing the value of currencies. In the absence of reliable statistics from the Central Bank of Cuba—which maintains an artificial official rate of 1 USD = 120 CUP—the "elTOQUE rate" has come to function as a kind of informal central bank of the Cuban economy.
Paradox of informational power: A media outlet, without direct financial purposes, ends up influencing the perception of the value of money, and therefore, indirectly, on prices, expectations and economic decisions of millions of Cubans.
The dollar's fall: a symptom of vulnerability
Following Sandro Castro's statements, currencies in the informal market experienced a sudden drop. This fact not only evidences the influence of political discourse, but also the weakness of the price formation system in the Cuban market. If a media attack can alter the supply and demand of currencies, it means that the current model lacks solid technical support and independent verification mechanisms.
Auditable methodology... but not verified
Although elTOQUE claims that its methodology can be audited, there is no public document that details step by step how the publications used to calculate the rate are collected, filtered and weighted. The platforms included, the measurement schedule, the reliability criteria or the level of manual intervention in the process are not specified.
The lack of transparency on these points opens space for distrust, even among those who recognize the importance of the media's work in the Cuban informational context.
Billetaxo: towards a more open and verifiable currency market
Faced with this situation, Billetaxo presents a more democratic and decentralized alternative: the Billetaxo Currency Market.
Our system works as an open marketplace, where users can publish their offers and demands in real time, allowing rates to form automatically from real and verifiable transactions, not just publications.
Total transparency: This proposal seeks to balance the ecosystem, offering transparency, plurality and traceability. It is not about competing with elTOQUE, but about complementing the landscape with a participatory space, where data is built by the community and not by a single source.
Advantages of Billetaxo's model
- Real transactions: Rates are based on real offers and demands from verified users, not on social media publications.
- Total transparency: Each transaction is visible and verifiable by the community.
- Decentralization: The power to determine rates is distributed among all participants, not concentrated in a single source.
- Traceability: Each operation is recorded, allowing independent audits.
- Community participation: Cubans can be an active part of the price formation process.
Conclusion: democratizing economic information
Cuba needs a more open currency market, where information flows in a decentralized and verifiable way. As long as there is a data monopoly, volatility and distrust will continue to mark the rhythm of the informal economy.
Transparency is not achieved just by publishing numbers, but by showing how those numbers are built. That is the direction of Billetaxo's proposal: a tool to return to Cubans the right to know, participate and decide on the real value of their money.
Want to participate in a more transparent market? Visit our Currency Market and be part of a more open and democratic economy.
