The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has announced the end of the pre-sale for the Petro, the country’s “cryptocurrency”. He claims it has raised the equivalent of over 3 billion dollars. Maduro has also certified 16 crypto exchanges he hopes will start listing his country’s new currency.
Also read: Yahoo! Japan Confirms Entrance Into the Crypto Space
16 Crypto Exchanges Certified
According to Venezuelan newspaper with government backing Correo del Orinoco, Maduro has “authorized the certification of 16 exchange houses for cryptocurrencies,” which will facilitate Petro transactions in the international market. Maduro was quoted saying during the inauguration of Venezuela Power Expo 2018 in Caracas:
The certification of these 16 exchanges is a demonstration of confidence in the system of the Petro, as a cryptocurrency, and will allow liquidity and solid transactional volume.
The news follows the announcement of Venezuela’s major crackdown on crypto exchanges and remittance businesses dubbed Operation Paper Hands.
The certified 16 exchanges are “Criptoexchainge, Criptocapital, Asesoría Financiaera CA, Italcambio, Amberes Coin, Cave Blockchainge, Valoratta Casa de Bolsa, Coinsecure.ve, Critiaechainge, Criptolago, Criptoventraige CA, Criptoactivo Menets CA, Criptoactivo Bancar CA, Criptomundo Casa de Intercambio CA, Inversiones Financieras 1444 CA, [and] Criptoactivo Criptoes,” the publication detailed. However, there is no confirmation that any of them have agreed to list the Petro at the time of this writing.
Coinsecure’s Comments
India’s Coinsecure is on the list of exchanges certified by Venezuela. CEO Mohit Kalra said that “Venezuela wanted to add Petro as a cryptocurrency on Coinseure, so they can trade Petro against bitcoin and the rupee,” Business Standard reported on Saturday.
Venezuela has reportedly offered India a 30% discount on crude oil purchases if India uses the Petro, the news outlet added and quoted Kalra saying:
The offer that they have given to the Indian government is: you buy Petro and we will give you a 30 percent discount.
Maduro Claims $3.3 Billion Raised So Far
Maduro announced on Thursday the official closing of the Petro presale. He claimed that “To date, the pre-sale of El Petro has obtained 3,338 million dollars,” elaborating:
I have to report on the closing of El Petro’s first pre-sale. We closed with an amount of $3,338 million. An economic miracle. Boot The Petro!
During his speech, Maduro held up a presentation showing that the Petro has raised the equivalent of 2.744 billion euros, 208.337 billion rubles, and 21.118 billion yuan. He also announced that he will deliver inject $1 billion into the economy obtained from the Petro.
Furthermore, the president promised that he will continue promoting the new currency. In addition to announcing that fuel will be sold to all national and international airlines for Petro, he declared that he has signed the paperwork “to create an Industrial and Economic Investment Fund in Petro and I have already contributed, for now 8.5 million Petro equivalent of $510 million for credit loans.”
What do you think of Maduro’s strategy for the Petro? Do you think the exchanges will list the Petro? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Coinsecure, and the Venezuelan government.
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