Venezuela Announces The Launch Of Its Crypto Token Called ‘Petro’

Authorities in Venezuela have announced the launch of the country’s first digital called “token” as part of fulfilling previously revealed plans about the token which had caused some controversy.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro first announced the company’s plans to launch Petro in December last year. He revealed that the digital coin would be introduced to help the company circumvent U.S sanctions especially since the country’s official currency known as Bolivar as a result of an economic downturn.

President Maduro announced on Tuesday that the launch of the presale of the Petro token managed to raise roughly $75 million within the first day of the sale. This is despite the warning from blockchain analysts that Petro was probably not going to attract a lot of investors. The token has attracted a lot of criticism especially from the opposition party which claims that the token is part of the government’s illegal plans to bypass the majority-opposition legislature. The U.S. Treasury Department has also issued a warning stating that the move may be in violation of the sanctions that were imposed in 2017.

President Maduro had this to say during the launch event: "Petro is born and we are going to have a total success for the welfare of Venezuela. ... The largest and most important companies and blockchain in the world are with Venezuela, we are going to sign agreements."

Despite announcing that the Petro token had a successful launch, there was no evidence presented to support the reportedly raised amount. Carlos Vargas , the Cryptocurrency Superintendent of Venezuela had announced a few days ago that the government expected investors to come from Europe, Qatar, Turkey and the U.S. The president also withheld any details pertaining to the initial investors. He did, however, mention that the digital token will be used to facilitate oil transactions, gasoline sales, and tourism.

Jorge Millan, a lawmaker in Venezuela disagrees with the launch of the token claiming that it is a forward sale of the country’s oil. The legislator also described it as a plan that has corruption as its backbone. Senators Robert Menendez (D.-NJ) and Marco Rubio (R.-Fl) also expressed their disagreement with the launch of the token back in January. However, it seems that Maduro has not wavered in his determination to venture into the cryptocurrency market which he believes could be the solution to solving the country’s financial problems. The Venezuelan President stated that the value of each Petro token will be pegged on the value of a barrel of oil from the country.