Venezuela announces the activation of its digital currency to face economic sanctions
Venezuela has announced the introduction
of its oil-backed digital currency, Petro, to world markets, in a bid to counter the country's economic crisis and US sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.
Local television Telesur quoted Venezuelan officials as saying that Petro's cryptocurrency would neutralize the threat to black markets and money mafias.
Experts said the aim of the currency launch was to "stop the imbalance caused by the economic war driven from abroad," referring to the economic sanctions imposed on the country.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro told a news conference that Petro, unlike other cryptocurrencies, "does not need mining (to extract commissions from the same currency dealings), because they are really valuable," adding that they are protected by Venezuelan oil and mineral wealth.
He pointed out that Petro already exists in 6 of the largest international exchange centers in the world (unspecified) and will now be accepted at the national level.
Maduro stressed that all Venezuelans will get the currency "Petro" for international purchases, pointing out that it is now a legal alternative to the dollar in real estate transactions.
The unit price of the state-backed Petro is equivalent to 3,600 bolivars (local currency), and is set to become a reference for determining the value of business and the price of services and consumer goods, and one of the accounting units that will govern the Bolivarian state, according to Telesur.
In February 2018, Venezuela became the first country to launch a bitcoin-style electronic currency, the most famous decentralized digital currency in the world, in a move the government hoped would help the country emerge from its stifling economic crisis.
In March of that same year, US President Donald Trump banned Americans from trading Petro, calling it "illegal."
In August, Trump issued an executive order to freeze all Venezuelan government assets in the United States. In the past, Washington has taken diplomatic and economic measures against the Nicolas Maduro regime, including sanctions and senior officials, to pressure him to step down.
Source: Agencies
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