Venezuela Invites OPEC Countries to Jointly Develop Oil-Backed Crypto Platform

Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro has invited all OPEC nations to jointly develop a platform for the trading of oil-backed cryptocurrencies. Venezuela is preparing for a pre-sale of the petro, its oil-backed cryptocurrency which can be used to pay national taxes, fees, and public services.

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Inviting OPEC Nations

During the meeting on Tuesday with Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mohammed Barkindo, Maduro proposed for all OPEC nations to come together and develop a platform for the trading of oil-backed cryptocurrencies.

OPEC consists of 14 nations: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. “I will officially send all the OPEC producers a proposal,” Maduro announced and extended the invitation to non-OPEC countries, saying:

I will officially propose to the OPEC and non-OPEC countries that we adopt a joint cryptocurrency mechanism backed by oil.

Venezuela recently published the whitepaper for its own oil-backed cryptocurrency. A private pre-sale of the petro will be held on February 20, followed by an initial coin offering (ICO) in March.

In addition to “5 billion barrels of oil support the petro,” Maduro confirmed that “we will also support our cryptocurrency with precious minerals from our land,” adding:

I have explained to Mohammed Barkindo the goodness of the petro. The cryptocurrency is the world of the future. I am very excited as well as the people of Venezuela.

Petro’s Promises

According to the petro’s whitepaper:

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela guarantees that it will accept petros as a form of payment of national taxes, fees, contributions and public services.

“The Venezuelan government is committed to promoting the use of petro in the domestic market and making efforts to stimulate its acceptance throughout the world,” the whitepaper reads. “The State will actively assume the commitment to promote the adoption of petro, encouraging the growth of its national and international user base.”

In addition, “The use of petro will be promoted by PDVSA and other public and joint ventures, as well as national public entities and regional and local governments,” the whitepaper also revealed. On Tuesday, the Superintendency of Cryptocurrencies announced that the “PDVSA will use the petro in its business relations.”

Furthermore, the Superintendency gave additional information about the previously announced Petro Container, stating that they are “for the massification of mining farms in high schools, universities, university villages and popular sectors.”

What do you think of Maduro’s invitation to the other OPEC countries? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of the Venezuelan government.

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