on the crypto
Il Venezuela is one of the countries that have decided to take the path of cryptocurrencies with the specific intent to bypass the embargo put in place by the United States and to counter the hyperinflation afflicting the national currency, the bolivar. He did it by adopting the Petro, digital currency guaranteed by the immense oil and mineral reserves of the country, which however has so far encountered considerable difficulties in establishing itself on the markets, also due to a series of technical limitations of no small importance.
Maduro's move
According to a tweet posted in the past few days, the President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro would have ordered to open branches for the Petro in all the branches of the Banco de Venezuela. A directive arrived at the tenth anniversary of the nationalization of the bank, the most important in the South American country.
A move which was interpreted just like an attempt to reinvigorate the virtual uniform and which is accompanied by a provision that promises to be very important, the one on the basis of which 924 million bolivars have been allocated, equivalent to around 92,5 million dollars, in favor of Digital Bank of Youth and Students, aimed atopening of a million Petro wallet for the country's youth. Provision that was warmly welcomed by National Cryptocurrency Association of Venezuela in the person of its president, José Angel Alvarez, according to which the decision to create a hybrid economy would be not only courageous, but also correct.
The reasons for the provision
As we have already mentioned, Petro represents an attempt by the Chavista government to at least partially avoid the consequences of the US embargo. An attempt that, however, from the beginning has shown considerable difficulties: on the one hand, the US government has associated cryptocurrency with the current blockade against Venezuelan assets, while on the other the digital economy has shown signs of rejection symbolized by the refusal of many exchanges to include it in their basket.
The problem was compounded by the same Venezuelan opposition, which strongly affirmed how the decision to guarantee the Petro with the oil reserves would put it in contrast with the national hydrocarbons law, which establishes the impossibility of using crude oil in order to provide guarantees to third parties. Moreover the same oppositions where they were able to unseat Maduro from the presidency, could decide to not to recognize debts contracted through the Petro, a very risky operation, as it would erase the credibility of the country system, but which cannot be excluded from the start.
Russia in the background
In a situation that is still very confused, the role played in the affair by the Russia, who seems willing to support Chavismo with extreme determination. If at the time of the issuance of the Petro the voices had been chased according to which the Russians had participated in the working group that had launched the cryptocurrency, a few weeks ago the rumors took place according to which Venezuela could sign trade agreements with Russia using the ruble instead of the dollar.
