Bitcoiner María Corina Machado emerges as contender to replace Venezuela’s Maduro
María Corina Machado, a Nobel Prize–winning figure and prominent Bitcoin advocate, has surfaced as a leading contender in the race to replace Nicolás Maduro after his reported capture on Saturday. Machado is one of three candidates now positioned to contest the presidency, a development that quickly became central to domestic stability and international diplomatic attention. Her prominence matters to crypto observers because Machado has long championed Bitcoin as a tool for economic freedom and remittances. A Machado administration could accelerate formal crypto adoption, alter regulatory frameworks, and affect how Venezuelans use digital assets to shield savings and cross-border transfers. Markets and policy watchers will be monitoring both political uncertainty and potential shifts in Venezuela’s approach to BTC, as any major change could have outsized social and economic ripple effects in the region.