Venezuelan government has announced that it is currently in negotiations with six crypto exchanges for the listing of its oil backed Petro cryptocurrency. The Latin American country is determined to go ahead with the digital currency, despite fierce opposition by the U.S., which sees it as a way to circumvent sanctions levied on the country.
From Sixteen to Six
Initially informed as sixteen big exchanges, the number has dropped to six in the latest announcement. The list of exchanges does not contain any mainstream or large volume ones, despite President Nicolas Maduro’s speech claiming it would be available in the most largest exchanges in the world.
The six exchanges reportedly are Cave Blockchain, Cryptia, Criptalogo, Antwerp Coin, Bancar, and Afx Trade. None of these exchanges are widely known. Antwerp Coin is backed by the Venezuelan government itself. Cryptia, an exchange that claims to deal in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dash and Ripple, has almost no trading volume at all. Major exchanges might be reluctant to list Petro due to possible retaliatory actions by the U.S. government. This may be the reason Petro is in the process of being listed in relatively unknown exchanges only.
Changing Petro
The Petro cryptocurrency has more than sanction defying controversy attached to it. The digital token has gone through a number of changes in recent times, including a new whitepaper that was released earlier this month. Recent changes include the Petro now being pegged to a number of commodities apart from its original of state backed oil, such as gold, iron and diamonds. A Reuters’ investigation has revealed the complete opposite, with claims that the Petro is not backed by anything and is impossible to trade. The new whitepaper itself is accused of being plagiarized from Dash, a cryptocurrency that is increasingly becoming popular in the South American country.
The Petro has also been declared by the state as the only way for Venezuelans to pay for their passports, creating further issues.
Crypto Adoption
With the inflation hurting the sanction hit country badly, citizens see cryptocurrencies a far more better option to invest, even with the inherent price volatility. Dash is becoming increasingly popular in the country with a number of merchants and shops already accepting payments.
With the Petro surrounded by controversy after controversy, its actual adoption and trading still remains to be seen.
