Maduro to Hold Petro Airdrop for Venezuelan Residents

December 16, 2019, by Marko Vidrih on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, speaking on national television at the end of last week, announced that his government was preparing to hold a one-time distribution of 0.5 Petro (about $30 or five minimum monthly salaries) in favor of all senior citizens, public sector employees, and military personnel others satisfying the selection criteria of citizens.

To participate in the airdrop, residents of the country will need to download the Petro App and register an account in it. The Petro App is the first official Petro wallet with which users can buy and sell Petro for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.

Maduro tried to hold a similar airdrop last year. The authorities then distributed tokens through Patria’s social subsidy management platform. In the system, Venezuelan residents are asked to provide relevant socio-economic information about themselves in exchange for the opportunity to receive “bonuses” in the form of points, which can then be exchanged for traditional currency credited to bank accounts associated with accounts in the Partia system.

The previous Petro airdrop, however, was criticized by the recipients themselves, in particular, representatives of the older generation, who were not satisfied with the attendant difficulties and expected to receive payments immediately in cash. The new system based on the Petro App aims to simplify the process, as it does not require intermediation of banks. If successful, it can be a significant step in attracting citizens to use national cryptocurrency.

Author: Marko Vidrih