Cryptocurrencies, the petro will not save Venezuela

Cryptocurrencies, the petro will not save Venezuela: new doubts and new criticisms for the country's ambitious cryptocurrency project.

In the last few days we have been able to follow with particular interest the events of the petro, criptovaluta of the Venezuela, ready to enrich the coffers of a country that is struggling with heavy international sanctions.

Un project criptovalutario Interestingly enough, which, however, from the stars and stripes do not seem to have taken very well, intercepting it as a sort of way of "salvation" to get around the already mentioned sanctions.

However, there are also other reasons that would seem to inspire greater caution. And a recent study conducted by Bloomberg, precisely in the United States, suggests it quite explicitly. But why?

First, it is not clear on what code the petro. The Venezuelan government in its white paper stated that petro is built on the network Ethereum, but then stated that it is based on Gender. Not to like it is also its mechanism: if at the origin - it is still read in the paper - this cryptocurrency should "promote well-being, bring power closer to the people", in reality it is not clear why it is not possible to buy it with Venezuelan bolivars. Or, better, we understand it very well: the petro is not a currency, crypto or other, but a way to attract foreign currency, now that Venezuela is blocked by sanctions to access the international debt markets. So petro is just a way to hide the new international debt behind a thin screen of blockchain, say the most critical, and getting bolivars in exchange for petro would sound like a sort of round of home games.

In addition to this, the government continues to repeat that petro is a cryptocurrency "supported by the Petroleum". But what does this mean? First of all, it means that petro investors must trust the Venezuelan government and its ability to extract oil in a block that has not yet been extracted sufficiently. Then, of course, there is the not inconsiderable aspect of the fact that petro does not give any security: petro is a debt indexed to oil, but not guaranteed, and by a government that is sliding towards default, and that it was excluded from the international debt markets.