Venezuela Set to Officially Release its Oil-backed Petro Next Week

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Venezuela Set to Officially Release its Oil-backed Petro Next Week
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The Petro, Venezuela’s controversial cryptocurrency is finally ready for official release to the global cryptocurrency market, the Venezuelan government said.
The government is hoping that the cryptocurrency gains popularity as it is part of efforts to rescue the country’s financial system which has been swallowed up by inflation. Sadly, even Venezuelan citizens have not shown much interest in the use of the currency majorly for fear of inflation despite government instructions that all Venezuelans should use the cryptocurrency.
Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro in an address said:

“All Venezuelans will have access to the Petro and through it to make international purchases…The National Plan of Cryptoactives of Venezuela, will last 10 years. This is going to be the epicenter of the development of a new economy in the country.”

While the government is trying to impose the use of the Petro among Venezuelans, other cryptocurrencies, specifically Bitcoin and Dash, have seen a market boom despite such imposition.  According to Dash Group CEO Ryan Taylor, the cryptocurrency has enjoyed continuous increase in patronage throughout the year.

“We are seeing tens of thousands of wallet downloads from the country each month… Earlier this year, Venezuela became our number two market even ahead of China and Russia, which are of course huge into cryptocurrency right now.”

Meanwhile, the president had said the country’s cryptocurrency does not require mining as it is backed by substances of value such as the country’s rich oil reserves and precious stones.

“The Petro, unlike other digital currencies, doesn’t need to be mined because it already has a value, it is shielded with Venezuelan oil and mining wealth,”

He has also expressed great optimism that the cryptocurrency will play a critical role in bringing the country’s financial system back on track after the long struggle with inflation. He also expressed confidence that the Petro will gain wide acceptance rapidly to help actualize the government’s “Economic Recovery, Growth, and Prosperity Program.”
The official release of Venezuela’s Petro will make it one of the first cryptocurrencies owned by a country’s government. The release is also expected to check irregularities in the financial system of the country by taking financial power from “money mafias” and help bring up Bolivar, the country’s fiat currency.
This is why the government is trying to encourage the use of the Petro for every day transactions instead of Bolivar but this might be difficult seeing the citizens prefer other cryptocurrencies.