Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in addition to instituting forced farm labor among his own population as they are starving, has issued a timeline in which the nation’s cryptocurrency petro would be tradable against other digital assets if purchased.
Ultimatum
According to a translation of the president’s speech by cryptocurrency analyst Jill Carlson, the President asserts that only cryptos bought before the end of December 31 can be converted to other cryptocurrencies.
In order to save the country’s economy from a punishing hyperinflation that some estimates say will hit the all-but-meaningless 1 million percent mark by the end of 2018, President Maduro’s administration launched the petro, a cryptocurrency supposedly backed by the Republic’s oil reserves.
Hope that Petro will save economy
The government believes that the crypto is the only hope to boost its ailing economy but so far since the pre-sale in February the token has not exhibited any positive trends. Critics also question whether the token is decentralized as required of all cryptos. Cryptos are not subject to government regulations; in fact what the president is doing – stipulating a timeframe in which the token should be purchased, is further harming the reputation of the token, if such a thing were possible.
Trump ban
Already the US government has banned its citizens from purchasing Petro. As part of a larger sanction on Venezuela to pressure Maduro’s administration from defiling the democratic institutions and tools of the country, President Trump has ordered the enactment of legislation that will deter US citizens from trading in the Venezuelan-issued token.
Will OPEC adopt Petro?
Venezuela is looking to propose the token to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as the official oil-backed cryptocurrency. The plan was announced by the country’s Minister of Petroleum, Manuel Quevedo, in what might be described as a fit of insanity. “Petro will become the digital currency of oil transactions worldwide; we will present it to OPEC, it is one of the internationalization measures of the currency.”
With the US out of the picture, the Petro is headed for total failure; however, if it manages to pull off the strategy announced by Quevedo, there might be a ray of hope, though very very thin. If and when the petro fails to impress as speculated by the government, Venezuela will spiral to an even more depressing humanitarian crisis. Already citizens are fleeing the country in search of greener pastures, or any food.