With a financially staggering inflation consuming Venezuela’s fiat currency, Bolivar, the country’s controversial cryptocurrency, Petro, is set to launched into the cryptocurrency market. The official release of the Petro will make it one of the first digital asset owned by a government body.
The digital asset was created by the Venezuelan government in an attempt to save the economy from the downward spiral of hyperinflation. The current regime is trying to garner citizen adoption of the cryptocurrency, even going so far as to force banks and businesses to accept the Petro as legal tender equivalent to the Bolívar. The Petro can now be used for everyday transactions for goods and even major purchases such as real-estate.
Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro in an address said:
“All Venezuelans will have access to the Petro and through it to make international purchases…The National Plan of Cryptoactives of Venezuela, will last 10 years. This is going to be the epicenter of the development of a new economy in the country.”
Maduro has stated that the country’s cryptocurrency does not require mining as it is backed by real value, and “is shielded with Venezuelan oil and mining wealth.”
In a play to garner mass adoption of the Petro to help actualize the government’s “Economic Recovery, Growth, and Prosperity Program”, Maduro stated:
“All Venezuelans will have access to the Petro and through it to make international purchases…The National Plan of Cryptoactives of Venezuela, will last 10 years. This is going to be the epicenter of the development of a new economy in the country.”
This however, may be an upward battle as many Venezuelan citizens have already adopted other cryptocurrencies, such as the Dash, and may not see a future for the Petro.
