Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro has ordered the Bank of Venezuela to start accepting el Petro, and allow citizens to buy and trade the state-issued cryptocurrency.
The Venezuelan Ministry of People's Power of Economy and Finance tweeted the news on Wednesday.
At an event marking the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Bank of Venezuela as the country's national bank, the Minister quoted Maduro as saying:
“I hereby order that every branch of Banco de Venezuela opens exchange desks so that everyone can transact with El Petro and start using it,”
"This is the new world where we can lead by example. We can do this from Venezuela. The world is looking at us."
#EnVivo | Pdte. @NicolasMaduro: Doy la orden expresa para que se abran taquillas de transacciones de El Petro en todas las agencias del Banco de Venezuela#TrabajoPazYProduccion#10AñosBDV pic.twitter.com/mTMy8j2xs7
— MPPEF (@MinEcoFinanzas) July 3, 2019
Maduro has for been trying to introduce Petro as Venezuela's alternative currency to help end inflation and crisis.
As expected, Maduro also mentioned the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government on the country.
"Cryptocurrencies must be democratized against a backdrop of economic sanctions, block, and financial persecution," Maduro said.
But the adoption has been really slow, despite efforts to create a regulatory framework for the development of infrastructure for the cryptocurrency.
While the fate el Petro is yet to be certain, the government continues to hope that the cryptocurrency can eventually become a means of value storage and payments across Venezuela.
Several attempts have been made.
For example, el Petro being tied to the national fiat currency, the Sovereign Bolivar, and even pegged pension and salary systems to the token.
The President also mandated that payments for passports should be made in el Petros.
Maduro also insisted commission for transfers of cryptocurrency into Venezuela in the amount of 15 percent, and that el Petro must be adopted by the country’s public banking system and the national private banking sector, because it is pegged to the country’s rich oil reserves – as well as state-owned companies.
Previously, Maduro said that the country’s budget allocated 924 million Bolivars (just over $92.5 million) to a digital bank created specifically for young people. These funds will be used to open 1 million cryptocurrency accounts for Venezuelan young people.
Maduro‘s previous attempt comes days after Cuba, one of Venezuela’s allies, said it was considering the potential use of cryptocurrency to boost its economy. Some states, including Russia, have already begun to consider options for el Petro's use in their operations with Venezuela.
