Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro looked to the world of digital currency to circumvent U.S.-led financial sanctions, announcing on Sunday the launch of the “petro” backed by oil reserves to shore up a collapsed economy.
The leftist leader offered few specifics about the currency launch or how the struggling OPEC member would pull off such a feat, but he declared to cheers that “the 21st century has arrived!”
“Venezuela will create a cryptocurrency,” backed by oil, gas, gold and diamond reserves, Maduro said in his regular Sunday televised broadcast, a five-hour showcase of Christmas songs and dancing.
The petro, he said, would help Venezuela “advance in issues of monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome the financial blockade.”
RittaFarr
Cryptocurrency is confusing enough. Can someone explain to me how this is any different than a standard currency that’s just digitized? I thought the idea of cryptocurrency was that it was global without the specific ties to one country.
PatrickO'Brian
I read an article a few months back that claimed Venezuela was the most dangerous place to mine for bitcoin, and that many citizens were getting jailed. Interesting and ironic that Venezuela launched their own cryptocurrency.
Here’s the article I read: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/30/venezuela-is-one-of-the-worlds-most-dangerous-places-to-mine-bitcoin.html