2024-01-14 17:16:44
Venezuela is stopping its own cryptocurrency Petro, which President Nicolás Maduro introduced six years ago to circumvent US sanctions. Digital money in the South American country never managed to live up to the government’s high expectations.
With the introduction of the petro, Maduro wanted to break the financial blockade that had been placed on his oil-rich but crisis-ridden country. The cryptocurrency was launched in February 2018 with great pomp and ceremony.
But for most ordinary Venezuelans it remained unclear how to use the new currency. The petro was also labeled a “scam” by some risk assessment bodies.
In 2020, the president tried to revive the currency by instructing airlines flying from the capital Caracas to use it to pay for fuel. Ultimately, its use was limited to certain state services, for example for paying taxes. Traffic fines were also handed out in petros, but it was not possible to actually pay them with the cryptocurrency.
The death knell for the currency was a corruption scandal surrounding oil extraction funds that came to light last year and in which crypto transactions appeared to play an important role. The case led to the resignation of oil minister Tareck El Aissami and dozens of arrests.
“The Petro (PTR) is officially dead,” a Venezuelan crypto party recently wrote on social media. All crypto wallets on the Patria Platform, the only website where the petro might be traded, will be closed on Monday. Remaining petros are converted into Venezuelan bolivar.
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