Venezuela Unveils Mining, Trading, and Launch Details of National Cryptocurrency

The Venezuelan government has published a decree outlining the operation of Venezuela’s national cryptocurrency, the Petro. It details the government’s plans for the new currency, including its issuance, mining, and trading. In addition, the Petro will be backed by 5 billion barrels of crude oil.

Also read: Russian Regulators Draft Law to Restrict Crypto Mining, Payments, and Token Sales

5 Billion Barrels of Oil and Mining Plan

Venezuela’s president Nicolás Maduro has assigned 5.3 billion barrels of crude oil worth $267 billion to back the nation’s cryptocurrency. He first announced the creation of the Petro in early December, as news.Bitcoin.com reported.

During a weekly national radio and TV broadcast, he showed a “document formalizing the provision of the certified Ayacucho oil field, No.1 in the Orinoco Petroleum Belt, for the support of El Petro cryptocurrency,” according to RT. Citing that “every single Petro will be backed by a barrel of oil,” Maduro confirmed:

We will set up a special team of cryptocurrency specialists so they will be engaged in mining in all states and municipalities of our country.

In addition, the president “promised to allocate Arco Minero gold deposits from the Orinoco Belt along with the country’s diamond deposits” to the Petro, the publication noted.

The Cryptocurrency Superintendency and the National Blockchain Observatory will oversee the Petro’s creation and operation, as news.Bitcoin.com previously reported.

Issuance and Trading Plans

The Maduro government has published a Gazette which outlines a decree consisting of 13 parts, referred to as Articles; nearly half of them concern the operational details of the Petro.

Article 4 of the decree describes the assets backing the new currency, stating that the Petro “is about Venezuelan oil quoted in the OPEC basket, as well as other commodities, including gold, diamond, coltan, and gas.” Moreover, each Petro “will have, as physical support, a purchase-sale contract for one (01) barrel of oil from the Venezuelan crude oil basket or any commodities that the nation decides.”

Article 5 reveals the nature of the wallets holding the Petro, as well as the cryptocurrency’s convertibility, stating:

The holder of the Petro may change the market value of the crypto-asset for the equivalent in another cryptocurrency or in Bolivares at the market exchange rate published by the national crypto-asset exchange house…The holder of each Petro will own a virtual wallet, which will be his [own] responsibility.

The Gazette also provides some issuance details of the Petro and hints at an initial coin offering (ICO). “The initial placement will be made through auction or direct assignment, made by the Superintendence of the crypto-assets and related Venezuelan activities,” according to Article 8.

Furthermore, the government explained in Article 9, “The custody will be decentralized once the Superintendence of the crypto-assets and related Venezuelan activities has carried out the initial auction and assigned the crypto-assets to investors.”

As for the launch timeframe, Minister of Communication and Information Jorge Rodríguez was recently quoted by local publications saying, “the first issue of the Petro cryptocurrency will be announced within days.” Then, during his year-end speech in a national radio and TV broadcast on Sunday, December 31, Maduro revealed:

In the month of January, I will be presenting all the conditions for the Petro to start operating.

What do you think of the details provided on the Petro so far? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Vpi TV, and the Financial Times.

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