Venezuela Crypto Coin to Enter Global Market
Charlotte Yates
Venezuela’s government announced that petro, the state-created digital currency, will be integrated in international trade beginning this October.
“The Petro enters … as a currency of exchange, purchase and convertible currencies for the world,” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said during his speech, as reported by the country’s television channel.
“Announced that explain the starting mechanisms final installation of Petro and after stages of development and deployment of this criptoactivo supported on mineral wealth of Venezuela and is the seventh line Recovery Program, economic growth and prosperity,” the report stated.
Maduro noted the inclusion of the petro is a product of the development and deployment of the token as part of the country’s economic recovery program. However, it is not certain what exact sectors of Venezuela’s global trade business will utilize the virtual currency unveiled in February this year.
He also revealed that 34 supermarket managers were imprisoned on charges on concealing foods and manipulating prices amid an economic turmoil.
“We had a group of supermarkets that hid the products from people and started to charge them whatever they wanted. There are 34 managers of big supermarkets behind bars for violating the law,” Maduro said.
“I say one thing and the supermarkets come along and say another… What excuse do they have to not follow the rules?” he said, urging Venezuelans to report any incident of unfair prices to avoid “getting robbed.”
Maduro has repeatedly said the petro token would help solve the country’s worsening inflation and stabilize the economy.
He earlier said Venezuela’s new fiat currency, the sovereign bolivar, would be pegged to the oil-backed petro. He also ordered local financial institutions to use the petro as a unit of account, as well as some state-owned businesses to convert a percentage of their sales into petros.
“The economic reconversion will start on August 20 definitively with the circulation and issuance of the new Sovereign Bolivar, the new monetary cone [sic] that is going to have a new method of anchoring the Petro,” Maduro had said.
“We have the correct vision of what the economic future in Venezuela should be, above all, we will achieve it.” Petro “will end up being consolidated technologically and financially” and will manage to “permeate all the national and international economic activity,” he added.
Legislators in the country denounced the virtual currency, saying it is illegal under existing laws. Venezuela’s Asamblea Nacional had stated the digital currency is unconstitutional, adding this plan imposes a threat to potential investors. “This deepens the crisis that we are living in. The PTR is another [example] of corruption, and we will come out of this crisis with measures that we have announced from this Parliament,” it added.
US President Donald Trump previously signed an executive order to impose new sanctions against the country prohibiting transactions in the petro.
“All transactions related to, provision of financing for, and other dealings in, by a United States person or within the United States, any digital currency, digital coin, or digital token, that was issued by, for, or on behalf of the Government of Venezuela on or after January 9, 2018, are prohibited as of the effective date of this order,” the document reads.
