Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president, has announced the launch of the Petro coin as a national cryptocurrency

The new white paper published by the government illustrates the significant improvements

Venezuela’s resources back the petro, not oil alone

Countries around the globe are taking big strides and making adjustments to prepare for cryptocurrency adoption. Venezuela it appears is now joining the race in facilitating cryptocurrency integration into the economy. This Monday the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro demonstrated his country’s efforts in this regard. Through a TV address, the president announced the adoption of the Petro as a national currency. According to him, this new crypto is different from other cryptocurrencies and is set to benefit Venezuelans.

The Contents of the New Whitepaper

The Petro Crypto created in February is no longer only backed by oil but rather all of Venezuela’s natural resources. Maduro points out that what makes this crypto different from all the rest is that it doesn’t have to be mined because it already has value. The government’s involvement in this new cryptocurrency can be illustrated through the two Whitepapers previously published by the Venezuelan government. After the president’s announcement, a new whitepaper was issued to bring to light improvements on the previous version.

According to the new whitepaper, changes have been made to the current version of the petro crypto about its mining algorithm, hybrid system and proof of verification. The new white paper has highlighted that:

A four-megabyte hybrid block through a one-minute block interval will be employed for the hybrid system

The proof of stake verification will be facilitated through a staked master node system

The new version uses Dash’s X11 mining algorithm for proof as compared to an older version

However, it is important to point out that a section of the new whitepaper that explains the concept of the engineering driving the petro crypto closely resembles the technology used in the whitepapers for Dash and Bitcoin. Critics say it was taken directly from these. This has led to a reaction by the Ethereum developer Joey Zhou on twitter saying “LOL Venezuela’s new token is a blatant Dash clone.”

What this means for the Venezuelan population

According to the president, Petro crypto is presently trading on six leading international exchange platforms which will expose Venezuela to the global trading level. Additionally, it will facilitate access to petro in making foreign purchases. Maduro was quoted in the whitepaper saying “Petro coins are now a legal substitute to dollars in real estate deals as well as paying for goods…” There is also high hope that the establishment of the Petro coin will help neutralize the threat of money mafias in the country. In connection to the Petro coin, Venezuela has additionally launched a new currency known as the Sovereign bolivar that will start operating from November 5th according to president Maduro.