CARACAS.- The regime of Nicolas Maduro decided to end the experiment “Petro”the cryptocurrency launched six years ago as a response to financial sanctions imposed by the United States.
Starting next Monday, January 15, the Patria Platform will close cryptocurrency purses and wallets, according to a statement from the website in charge of managing bonuses and subsidies from the Venezuelan regime, the only means by which this questioned crypto asset could be exchanged.
The funds that still remain in the petro’s virtual wallet are being converted to bolivars, the local currency that has experienced a significant devaluation.
Since its announcement in 2017, the petro was presented as a cryptocurrency backed by Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and mineral resources, intended to circumvent restrictions imposed by US sanctions. Valued at $60 per unit, equivalent to the price of a barrel of Venezuelan crude oil at the time, the launch occurred in 2018, but faced delays due to problems in the blockchain, generating doubts and criticism from the beginning.
Although Maduro promised that the petro would open up new forms of international financing, its use was limited and mainly restricted to transactions with the State, such as paying taxes. Instead of functioning as a conventional cryptocurrency, the petro became a reference of value amid inflation and the constant depreciation of the bolivar.
Death blow to the petro
The petro suffered a fatal blow with the corruption scandal involving the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) last year, leading to the resignation of the Minister of Petroleum, Tareck El Aissami, and causing changes in the National Superintendence of Crypto Assets (SUNACRIP). ).
Although the use of cryptocurrencies was already significant in Venezuela before the petro, with citizens seeing them as a refuge from inflation, the controversial cryptocurrency failed to gain the necessary trust. Maduro, who had previously announced the “anchoring” of salaries to the petro, stopped referring to the state cryptocurrency in his public appearances.
This closure of the petro marks the end of a chapter in Venezuela’s relationship with cryptocurrencies, as the country continues to deal with economic and political problems.
Source: With information from AFP
