A new chapter of the Venezuela cryptocurrency saga has been unleashed. President Maduro once again changed its state-backed crypto price, and this time the Petro was arbitrarily increased 300% to 36,000 VES. Meanwhile, the country’s fiat currency devalued more than 200% recently.

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Venezuela Petro Price Changed Yet Again

The price of the Venezuelan Petro has been changed yet again by President Nicolas Maduro. In a public speech announcing several economic measures, after CoinSpice already hinted earlier this month about the Petro having two prices, Maduro confirmed an arbitrary and rather large increase in the state-backed crypto’s price.

The Petro went from 9,000 VES to 36,000 VES, a rise of 300% over its last price. This also determines a minimum wage increase of the same percentage, from 4,500 VES to 18,000 VES, because the minimum wage in Venezuela is pegged to the price of the official cryptocurrency. According to some economists, the increases could be a yet another burden for the already troubled country.

This is the second time the price of the Petro has been changed: the first came during last December, when Maduro also announced a raise of more than 100%, going from 3,600 VES to 9,000 VES. The original price of the Petro at its ICO was 3,600 VES, or $60 (the then price of a Venezuelan oil barrel).

State Companies to Sell Products in Petro

Maduro also announced 23 state companies and the state oil concern PDVSA should be prepared to sell at least 15% of their products in Petros to the foreign market, and threatened executives with layoffs if the heads of these companies failed to do so in the near future.

However, he has made announcements of this kind before, and none of them have become reality. Last year, he announced all state dependencies would accept payments in every cryptocurrency available out there, something that has not been implemented at any level. Despite this, he announced all these changes should start to be applied as of January 15, 2019.

The Petro as a Devaluation Instrument

Since the Petro has changed its price in Venezuelan Sovereign Bolivars, and not in dollars, Venezuelan economists are actively saying it has become more of an instrument for depreciation, and less a cryptocurrency. The way that it works is the government produces Petros and sells them at the most convenient rate to obtain more national currency per dollar. This would explain why the price of Petro changes in Venezuelan Bolivares and stays the same in dollars for foreign investors.

In any case, this increase in its price is expected to give way to a new inflation disaster with prices skyrocketing to balance the cost of salaries and the cost of goods and services.

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