"Petro", Venezuela's Own Cryptocurrency
While the United States and its allies seek to wage economic war on Venezuela in attempts to crush the Bolivarian Revolution, the movement continues to move forward adapting new technologies and strategies to bypass the road blocks along the way.
In a surprise move to many, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the creation of Venezuela's very own cryptocurrency known as the "Petro". Unlike many other cryptocurrencies of today, the Petro will be introduced by the government and backed by the country's rich oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves.
"The Petro will help Venezuela advance in issues of monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome the financial blockade," Maduro said referring to the financial blockade imposed on Venezuela by the U.S. and recent sanctions approved by U.S President Donald Trump which make it harder to move money through various global financial entities.
The public announcement comes as the value of cryptocurrencies have continued to reach all time highs. Here are several examples, roughly a year ago Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at around $760 per Bitcoin, today the price has soared to just under $13,000. Ethereum (ETH) was trading at just under $7 a year ago, today it finds itself valued at about $450. The first proof-of-stake coin Peercoin (PPC) was trading at just over $0.20 a year ago, today it has finds itself trading above $3. The number of new coins and tokens in existence has grown to over 1,000 as new innovation and use cases begin to emerge.
How will the cryptocurrency work in Venezuela?
The aim of issuing the new government backed Petro is to attain monetary sovereignty outside of organizations largely controlled and influenced by the U.S. The "Petro" will be used like Bitcoin in open spaces and global commerce as well as contributing to financial transactions within the county. It will introduce new opportunities of international financing for economic and social development in Venezuela. The countries oil reserves, gold, diamonds and gas guarantee commercial backing of the Venezuelan "Petro".
For a resource rich country such as Venezuela, this is a big thing. Certainly something to keep a close eye to in regards to how this project begins to unfold and how it will find itself in the ongoing creation of 21st century socialism in Venezuela.
Photo credit: https://twitter.com/PresidencialVen/status/937401927809294341
Very interesting post Jibaro (trust me, I don't get to read through and through many blogs here without quickly losing focus). Though I am not a fan of this man, your post has taught me something I did not know and it is very well written). A mighty fine job once again with this blog. I will share, there are many Venezuelans here whom might find this blog of interest and it deserves to be seen.
Thanks for sharing and thanks for your kind words @coquiunlimited.