The largest bank in Venezuela, the state-owned Bank of Venezuela, appears to have launched services to facilitate transactions in the country’s state-issued oil-backed virtual currency, the Petro. According to Decrypt, Bank of Venezuela customers have reported a new module integrated into the management interface of their accounts to facilitate registration for a digital wallet that supports the...
The worse the political, social, and economic conditions in Venezuela get, the more that residents suffering under the Maduro regime pile into Bitcoin. According to Coin Dance, more than 47 billion Venezuela bolivars were traded against Bitcoin in the first week of July. This broke a previous record that had been set in mid-June. While the rising amounts of bolivars being spent on buying Bitcoin...
By CCN.com: As the political and economic crisis in Venezuela escalates, citizens of the South American country are taking refuge in Bitcoin. In the final week of April, a record amount of Venezuelan bolivars were spent buying bitcoin per Coin Dance. Specifically, bitcoin worth more than 36.5 billion bolivars were purchased last week. The previous record was bitcoin worth 31.3 billion bolivars...
Facebook is the latest in a raft of corporate or government entities creating their own cryptocurrencies. Within weeks of JPMorgan announcing its plans to launch the JPMorgan coin, sources leaked confirmation of the crypto landscape’s worst-kept secret--that the Zuckerberg blockchain team was working on a native cryptocurrency. The social network joins a dubious lineup of centrally controlled...
Eight tons of gold has been taken out of the vaults of Venezuela’s central bank as tightening sanctions push President Nicolas Maduro to take extraordinary measures to remain solvent. Per opposition legislator Angel Alvarado and anonymous government sources, the gold was removed from the central bank vaults last week. Alvarado told Reuters that the gold will likely find a market outside the...
After years of hiding behind the fig leaf of socialism and revolutionary anti-imperialist rhetoric, the embattled Venezuelan government of Nicolas Maduro has shown its true colours with a new 15 percent tax on cryptocurrency transactions that may be best described as opportunistic, if not an act of outright tyranny. Venezuela's New Cryptocurrency Tax At a time when Hugo Chavez’ successor is...
In December 2017, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that the South American nation’s government was going to launch an oil-backed cryptocurrency called the Petro. Since then, the cryptocurrency' actual existence has been questionable, but CCN recently got our hands on some tokens. Venezuela's Petro Cryptocurrency Exists Ever since Maduro’s announcement, the Petro has been a...
The world is watching complete chaos in Venezuela, which is dire financial straits. Crypto investors who steered clear of a crypto offering peddled by the country’s president should be breathing a sigh of relief. Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro is being ousted over the country’s miserable financial situation. Opposition leader Juan Guaidó announced himself as the country’s new leader this...
The government of Venezuela has reportedly started converting pensioners’ monthly payments from the country’s fiat currency, the bolivar, to its oil-backed cryptocurrency Petro, without giving them a choice. According to the Caracas Chronicles, a politics and economics-focused website based in Venezuela, the country’s pensioners are notified every time their monthly payments arrive, but this time...
The government of Venezuela has announced that it plans to create a basket of cryptocurrencies for the oil-backed state cryptocurrency, the Petro. This initiative will allow the government to sell oil in exchange for petros and bypass US-imposed sanctions at the same time. The sale and purchase of crude oil with cryptocurrency will begin in March 2019. President Nicolás Maduro stated on Thursday...
According to TeleSUR TV, a mainstream media outlet in Venezuela, the country’s “cryptocurrency” called the Petro can only be traded to other crypto assets if bought before the end of 2018. Former Wall Street bond trader and digital asset analyst Jill Carlson translated the speech of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which read: "Anyone who buys the Petro until Dec 31 will be able to convert it...
After months of speculation regarding the status of Venezuela's much-publicised Petro cryptocurrency project, the Venezuelan government has announced that the Petro is now available for sale and can be bought with bitcoin and litecoin. A tweet from the official account of the Venezuelan Vice president of the Economy, Tareck El Aissami posted on October 29 reads: "The Petro may be acquired by...
Based on findings from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the annual inflation rate for Venezuela could reach as high as 1.37 million percent by the end of 2018. Inflation estimates for the country have risen several times this year as Venezuela struggles with policies and production -- and prepares to launch its Petro cryptocurrency No Stranger To The Headlines Venezuela has made headlines...
With the Petro now officially launched, the public sale of the state-backed cryptocurrency will begin early next month. In a televised address on October 1 during Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro announced that the public sale of the Petro will kick off on November 5. Though he did not list names, Maduro also indicated that the state-backed cryptocurrency is currently available on six...
Venezuela’s oil-backed cryptocurrency Petro (PTR) appears to be a “blatant” copy of Dash, as it has the same mining algorithm, similar features, and a part of its whitepaper appears to have been lifted from that of the privacy-centric cryptocurrency. As first pointed out by Ethereum developer Joey Zhou on Twitter, the oil-backed cryptocurrency’s whitepaper has on its 11th page an image that...
As Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro starts rolling out major monetary changes, citizens have hit a snag with the new point-of-sale systems at gas pumps, according to a report from Reuters. Long lines gathered at gas stations where drivers were unable to use the payment systems to purchase gas, adding to the list of infrastructure problems caused by hyperinflation, including healthcare and food...
Dash (DASH) is currently experiencing a strong price surge, rising about 20 percent in the space of 24 hours as news coming out of Venezuela indicates that it is experiencing a solid increase in adoption by users fleeing the bolivar's six-figure inflation rate. Hyperinflation, Petro, and Dash CCN reported recently that Venezuelan president Nicholas Maduro announced the creation of the "Sovereign...
The Banco Central de Venezuela, Venezuela’s central bank, has recently launched an Android app to help the country’s residents convert the country’s old fiat currency, the bolivar, to the new Petro-pegged Bolivar Soberano – the Sovereign Bolivar. The app, first spotted by Bloomberg, is called “Calculadora Soberana” (Sovereign Calculator) and doesn’t do particularly complex math, as it pretty much...
Randy Brito is the head of Bitcoin Venezuela, a non-profit organization dedicated to educate and promote Bitcoin in Venezuela. He is also spearheading the Locha project, which he describes as "an effort to push the needed developments and research for achieving the hyperbitcoinization in Venezuela." Brito also sees a use case for bitcoin in countries like Turkey and Iran,which have suffered...
Venezuela is reportedly looking to lunch a central bank for cryptocurrencies, as the country’s National Constituent Assembly is preparing to reform the Venezuelan Constitution to include it, along with a court above its Supreme Court. According to Reuters, information on the development was provided by Hermann Escarrá, which the outlet describes as “one of the most influential members of the...
Venezuela, a country battling one of the deepest economic recessions on record, is set to launch a new fiat currency pegged to its oil-backed "petro" cryptocurrency next month, according to President Nicolas Maduro. Venezuela to Create Fiat Currency Pegged to Cryptocurrency That is Pegged to Oil As reported by local news outlet Telesur, Maduro said that the new fiat currency, called the Bolivar...
Venezuela’s minister of Habitat and Housing, Ildemaro Villarroel, recently revealed that the country’s government is planning to finance the construction of villas using its oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro. According to local news outlet Telesur, the villas will be financed as part of the country’s housing project “la Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela (GMVV),” which according to sources aims to...
One million units of a nation’s currency to buy a cup of coffee would have been unthinkable before now. This is the case in Caracas, Venezuela, today, where it now costs one million bolivars to buy a single cup of coffee. This is due to the hyperinflation of the past 12 months in the once-rich OPEC country, which has now climbed to 43,378 percent. Incredibly bleak moment milestone for Venezuela...
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has been re-elected this Sunday, which means he’s staying in power for another six years. The electoral process was embroiled in controversy, as his mains rivals claim it was filled with irregularities. Maduro’s new term presumably means the country’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro, will keep on growing. According to Reuters, the 55-year-old won the...
Venezuela’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR), has been surviving thanks to a little-known Russian bank, Evrofinance Mosnarbank, which has recently emerged as the only international financial institution willing to defy the US’ sanctions against the South American nation. According to an Associated Press report, early would-be Petro investors who registered with Venezuela’s government...
Venezuela will open a youth bank funded by the government’s state-backed petro cryptocurrency, the country’s president said on Thursday. Nicolas Maduro announced the initiative during a youth rally held in the state of Aragua, and regional news outlet Telesur reports that he committed to funding the project with 20 million units of its recently-launched petro currency, which he says are...
Venezuela has recently offered India a 30 percent discount on crude oil purchases if the country purchases it using its oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro. According to a report published by the Business Standard, a team of experts from Venezuela’s blockchain department went to India last month to conduct the deal. While in India, Venezuela’s experts struck a deal with Delhi-based...
Runaway inflation continues to devalue the Venezuelan Bolivar (VEB), even as the country’s authoritarian government seeks to divert attention from the floundering economy by hawking its “Petro” cryptocurrency. According to Reuters, prices in Venezuela rose by 454 percent during the first quarter of 2018 and have swelled by 8,900 percent over the past 12 months. Those numbers are from the...
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has revealed that the country’s state-owned companies may start charging for exports in the country’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR). According to the country’s Cuatro F newspaper, even real estate is set to be purchasable with the cryptocurrency. In a piece published in the newspaper, Maduro stated the Petro came to “revolutionize the global...
The executive secretary of Venezuela’s Blockchain Observatory, Daniel Peña, recently did an interview for the country’s Cuatro F newspaper, in which he claims Donald Trump’s Petro (PTR) ban was free publicity for the oil-backed cryptocurrency. So much so, it allegedly helped double the number of interested investors. As covered by CCN, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning...
Venezuela's token El Petro, the world's first state cryptocurrency, would have raised $ 5 billion in its initial money offer (ICO), according to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. However, upon a review of the claim CCN and Criptomoedas Fácil, the numbers announced by Maduro have great chances of being false given that the announced value is impossible to have been collected. According to the...
Venezuela’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro, was the work of a joint collaboration between Venezuelan and Russian government officials with Putin’s personal approval, Time Magazine said Tuesday. Citing anonymous sources close to the ‘half-hidden joint venture’ between Venezuelan and Russian officials, Time Magazine is reporting that Russian president Vladimir Putin signed off on Kremlin...
President Donald Trump’s executive order banning US residents from engaging in transactions related to Venezuela’s “Petro” cryptocurrency could give the federal government an opening to regulate cryptocurrencies more closely under the guise of national security. The order, signed by Trump on Monday and effective immediately, makes it illegal for US citizens and residents to transact with the...
Brookings Institute analysts recently argued that Venezuela’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR), is likelier to harm legitimate cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, than it is o help Venezuelan’s escape the recession the country is currently enduring. Through an article published on its website, the think tank first noted that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claims the Petro...
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claimed the pre-sale of the country’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR), has raised $5 billion and recorded over 186,000 certified purchases, according to local news source TeleSUR. The announcement came during a meeting with members of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), in Caracas. During the meeting, Maduro explained that the money...
According to Venezuelan vice president Tareck El Aissami, the country’s oil-backed cryptocurrency Petro (PTR) will be auctioned to private companies via the country’s Dicom foreign exchange platform “in a few weeks.” While speaking at a meeting broadcast on state television, El Aissami stated that the Petro will be auctioned, and added that companies will be able to use the country’s oil-backed...
Venezuela’s Assemblea Nacional [National Assembly] recently declared it believes the country’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR) is unconstitutional. Through a public statement, the lawmakers denounced the cryptocurrency as a fraud, and a threat to those who invest in it. In the public statement, the lawmakers criticized the cryptocurrency’s token sale in general, which reportedly...
Dagong Global Credit Rating, one of China’s biggest credit rating agencies, recently published a report commenting on Venezuela’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR). Per the report, the cryptocurrency “may help the global currency system return to its basic value.” While the agency doesn’t assert whether the Petro can help Venezuela’s economy, it points out the issuance of an oil-backed...
Venezuela’s oil-backed cryptocurrency keeps making headlines, as the country’s cryptocurrency superintendent, Carlos Vargas, recently announced that airlines in Venezuela can now accept the Petro (PTR) and other cryptocurrencies as a payment method. The cryptocurrency superintendent announced the move according to instructions from the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. Via Twitter, he revealed...
The initial coin offering (ICO) presale for Venezuela’s high-profile ‘Petro’ cryptocurrency has been a resounding success -- at least according to state-run media outlets. Venezuela Claims ‘Petro’ Cryptocurrency Has Received 171,000 Intents to Contribute On Monday, Nicolas Maduro announced through the official presidential Twitter account that more than 171,000 individuals and companies had pre...
After officially launching the oil-backed Petro (PTR), Venezuela’s own cryptocurrency, the country’s leader Nicolás Maduro has ordered state-owned businesses to transact in it when buying and selling products and services. According to a video posted on Twitter by local television network VTV, the Venezuelan president ordered these businesses to convert a percentage of their sales and purchases...
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has recently announced that within one week, the county is going to launch a new cryptocurrency, the Petro Gold. The cryptocurrency, according to local news source Telesur, will be backed by precious metals. Notably, Maduro’s announcement was made Wednesday (Feb. 21), one day after Venezuela launched its oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro. As covered by CCN, the...
As recently covered by CCN, Venezuela’s Petro (PTR) oil-backed cryptocurrency is now being sold to investors in its pre-sale stage. Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has stated that the government already netted $735 million from the token’ sale, without backing his claim with any evidence. The Petro is set to be used to pay taxes, fees, and other public needs, as well as in international deals...
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro recently said that the country received $735 million through the pre-sale of its Petro (PTR) cryptocurrency, in only one day. The Petro, as previously covered by CCN, is a cryptocurrency that’s set to help Venezuela bypass US sanctions, as the bolivar plunges. Venezuela is notably the first country to launch its own cryptocurrency, and Nicolás Maduro celebrated...
The Venezuelan government has officially launched the pre-sale of its Petro (PTR) cryptocurrency. The Petro, as previously covered, is an Ethereum-based ERC-20 token that’s supposedly pegged to the country’s notable oil reserves. The cryptocurrency’s token, expected to be worth about $60, will be divisible into 100 million parts, with the smallest one being the “mene.” According to Latin American...
As previously reported by CCN, Venezuela is set to issue its Petro cryptocurrency through a token sale. Out of the 100 million Petros Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro ordered, about 38.4 million will go to institutional investors in a month-long presale, set to begin March 1. This presale, according to Bloomberg, will be private, obscuring the potential discounts the country offers investors...
As reported by CCN, Venezuela is going to issue its Petro cryptocurrency through a token sale. Out of the 100 million Petros Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro ordered, about 38 million will go to institutional investors, in a month-long presale set to begin on February 15. Only institutional investors will participate in the presale, and will reportedly be able to buy the cryptocurrency at a...
The Venezuelan government has recently stated that “false information” about its oil-backed Petro cryptocurrency has been published online. According to Reuters, the government is rejecting a leaked, allegedly fake, Petro whitepaper. The superintendence of Venezuelan Cryptoassets and Related Activites, bullishly announced late last year by president Nicolás Maduro to “govern” the cryptocurrency...
According to Bloomberg News, Venezuela plans on bolstering its Petro cryptocurrency by accepting it as a form of payment for fees and taxes, using it in international business, and encouraging its use through tax incentives.. The plan will also include paying public workers in the cryptocurrency. Notably, Bloomberg revealed that out of the 100 million Petros Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro...
Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has announced the issuance of 100 million petros, the state’s proposed upcoming national cryptocurrency backed by its oil reserves, the world’s largest by any country. Venezuela’s national cryptocurrency, the petro, will soon see its first issuance after Maduro’s mandate to issue 100 million units of the digital tokens. Each petro will be directly valued to a...