{"id":31137,"date":"2023-07-04T03:12:31","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T07:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/markets\/crypto\/sun-sets-on-venezuelas-petro-is-the-coin-dead\/"},"modified":"2023-07-04T03:12:32","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T07:12:32","slug":"sun-sets-on-venezuelas-petro-is-the-coin-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=31137","title":{"rendered":"Sun Sets on Venezuela\u2019s Petro: Is the Coin \u2018Dead?\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The sun may have set on Venezuela\u2019s crypto dream, experts say \u2013 with some claiming that the nation\u2019s oil-pegged Petro coin may be \u201cdead.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coin was launched in October 2018, and made headlines when its masterminds claimed it was the first state-backed cryptoasset.<\/p>\n

The government said that the coin was backed by oil, albeit reserves that had yet to be drilled.<\/p>\n

And the state-run agency that designed the coin also claimed the coin would become a major tool for remittances and trade.<\/p>\n

But following a major crackdown on corruption in March that essentially saw the state crypto agency disbanded, the nation\u2019s once-grand crypto plans now appear to be in tatters.<\/p>\n

El Pais reported that since May, users have complained of \u201cirregular behavior patterns\u201d on the Petro blockchain.<\/p>\n

And the state-issued PetroApp platform is now reportedly ridden with \u201cflaws.\u201d<\/p>\n

This would suggest that little or no maintenance or development work is being done on both the app and the blockchain network.<\/p>\n

A recent crypto mining crackdown has also hamstrung a sector that once included units of the nation\u2019s army.<\/p>\n

The newspaper noted that the crackdown\u2019s highest-profile victim, Joselit Ram\u00edrez, the president of the National Superintendence of Cryptoassets (SUNACRIP), is now in jail.<\/p>\n

And the crackdown, the media outlet continued, has also \u201cswept away an important part of SUNACRIP\u2019s technical staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new board has been placed in charge of crypto operations, but this body appears to have other priorities.<\/p>\n

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The End of the Petro: Has Venezuela Given Up Its Crypto Ambitions?<\/h2>\n

Henkel Garc\u00eda, a financial analyst, was quoted as explaining:<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe Petro is not [like] Bitcoin, which [computers] have to mine to validate transactions. It is an algorithm with a ceiling.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The economist Omar Zambrano was more scathing still, explaining:<\/p>\n

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\u201cCryptocurrencies have ended up becoming the instruments of a group of corrupt [\u2026] politicians who wanted to embezzle the little money that was left in the Petr\u00f3leos de Venezuela (PDVSA).\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The PDVSA is Venezuela\u2019s state-owned oil and natural gas company.<\/p>\n

The media outlet said that international sanctions against the nation had forced the country to sell oil \u201cirregularly,\u201d and carry out commercial operations \u201cin the dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Venezuelan \u201ctransactions with cryptocurrencies\u201d reportedly \u201cmade it possible\u201d for corrupt government officials to \u201cdivert resources into the pockets\u201d of ministers \u2013 without the knowledge of President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro.<\/p>\n

As these ministers were the most crypto-keen of all Maduro\u2019s political allies, there are now precious few crypto advocates left in the government.<\/p>\n

As such SUNACRIP and the Petro are now \u201cnearing the end,\u201d El Pais wrote, with the agency even commenting on its \u201cregrets\u201d about the \u201cprogressive decline\u201d of the Petro.<\/p>\n

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