“According to an executive at a Russian state bank who deals with cryptocurrencies, senior advisers to the Kremlin have overseen the effort in Venezuela, and President Vladimir Putin signed off on it last year.”

“The award reinforces suspicions about the involvement of Russian officials with Venezuela’s project. According to Telesur, Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce of the Russian Federation Oleg Nikolaevich Ryazantsev was in Venezuela in April to discuss cooperation with the Latin American nation in several areas, including the adoption of Petro as a form of payment among nations. The proposal was presented by Wilmar Castro, vice president for the Venezuelan economic area.”

The infamous Venezuelan cryptocurrency , ‘El Petro’ or, the Petro, has been awarded the Satoshi Nakamoto Prize for an ‘outstanding contribution to the development of the blockchain industry’ by the Russian Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Association (RACIB). RACIB plays a very active role within the Russian crypto-economy and hosts various members from several blockchain companies and members of government bodies. What we should remember here is that the Petro has been covered with controversy recently, with claims that it could literally destroy the blockchain industry. The currency aims to become a legitimate, sovereign payment option to resolve Venezuela’s economic crisis. Critics claimed however that not only would the Petro just damage the economy further, it would have adverse effects on the cryptocurrency climate on the whole. The plot thickened when reports surfaced with regards to Russian involvement within the launch of the Petro, something which did seem likely when it became apparent that the currency was being funded by the oil industry. According to a report by Time Magazine, who investigated Russian involvement within Venezuela:Mosco’s Finance Ministry responded, stating that none of Russia’s financial authorities had any involvement in the launch of the Petro, Venezuela’s government failed to pass any comment on this. Now, in light of the Petro’s recognition by RACIB, people are starting to fall back on the claims of Russia’s involvement, stating that this award literally is evidence that Russia have been directly involved with the launch of the currency. CCN have said:We should step back at this point and look at the bigger picture. The problem here is not a diplomatic one but actually that such government involvement within cryptocurrency can only stink of corruption. This was an industry set up to reduce iterations of corruption and thus, none of this news is healthy for the blockchain industry. Above all, cryptocurrency does have the power to rise above this. RACIB’s decision to award this prize might be controversial but really, is it that important? Is it just something we should ignore? I don’t know. It’s political and its current so it would be wrong to disregard it, if we ask what impact this will have on the Petro and the rest of the worlds cryptocurrencies however, then I would argue that its impact will be minimal.