Venezuela is calling for its citizens to build cryptocurrency mining farms throughout the country. The government has set up a crypto mining program which president Nicolas Maduro hopes will attract at least 1 million people such as university students, the unemployed, single mothers and the homeless.
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Maduro Seeks Crypto Miners
The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has launched a program to encourage citizens to set up mining farms throughout the country. Speaking in Caracas, he said young people should be “infected with courage” and set up “cryptocurrency farms throughout Venezuela,” Telesur reported this week.
This program is called “Plan Chamba Juvenil Digital (Youth Digital Work Plan),” the news outlet added, noting that registration for the program opens on April 15 and the government hopes that “the program will attract at least one million students.” Maduro tweeted:
Attention, young people!…Today Chamba Juvenil Digital emerges to allow youths to form cryptocurrency farms that can mine world currencies. Because Venezuela does not give up!
The head of state elaborated, “The program was designed to help incorporate young people – including university students, the unemployed, single mothers and the homeless – into working life. It is also expected to provide employment opportunities to recent graduates.”
Venezuela Building Crypto Mining Farms
Venezuela’s youth minister Pedro Infante said at a press conference on Thursday that 24 cryptocurrency mining farms will be built to boost training in the area of cryptocurrencies, according to El Ciudadano. The minister further revealed that his government has approved 96 billion bolivars (~USD$2.9 million) for the creation of these mining farms.
The project was created to “guarantee the incorporation of young people in the labor sector, and has set a goal of 1 million men and women under 35 in this program,” the publication detailed. Infante described that young people make up 60% of the population in Venezuela, 879,000 of which have joined the employment program. The news outlet noted:
Among the 23 provinces of Venezuela, Zulia (West), Miranda (North), Carabobo (North Center), and Lara (Center) are the states with the largest participation of young people in this program.
The Venezuelan government opened a school in February to teach its citizens about cryptocurrencies including mining.
According to local publications, Venezolana de Industria Tecnológica (VIT) will be assembling mining rigs for installation throughout Venezuela, Ultimas Noticias cited VIT president Jorge Michainaux explaining. “He indicated that the company will work on the creation of the petro container, which are portable centers for mining,” the news outlet wrote, adding:
Maduro said that the objective is to strengthen the use of cryptocurrencies as part of an economic revolution to democratize the international financial system…they will have the petro and all the cryptocurrencies [such as] ethereum [and] bitcoin, but also the new cryptocurrencies that are being created in the world.
Strengthening the Petro
According to Telesur, Maduro hopes that these cryptocurrency mining farms will “strengthen the petro.” However, the new Venezuelan digital currency itself is pre-mined. “At the beginning of the [petro] pre-sale process, the entire issue will be in the digital portfolios of the Republic,” the currency’s whitepaper states.
The pre-sale of the petro supposedly began on February 20. Maduro claimed that it has “generated over US$5 billion during its pre-sale period and, as of March 10, had recorded more than 186,000 certified purchases,” Telesur conveyed.
On Friday, Venezuela’s vice president Tareck El Aissami presented the Draft Constituent Law of the Petro before the National Constituent Assembly. However, the National Assembly has repeatedly spoken against this new currency, declaring it illegal and against the constitution of Venezuela.
What do you think of Venezuela recruiting young people to build cryptocurrency mining farms? Let us know in the comments section below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and the Venezuelan government.
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