Did Trump Know What He Was Doing While He Banned Petro?

BTC Wires: The petromoneda or commonly known ‘Petro’ is a new cryptocurrency launched by the government of Venezuela in Feb 2018. Backed by the countries reserves of oil, gasoline, gold and diamonds, petro is expected to uplift the plunging Venezuelan currency Bolivar Fuerte (VEF). The currency will be pre-mined, meaning its production and control will solely be done by the government.

The President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro stated that petro has raised $735 M in its first presale. The country has allotted five billion barrels of oil to back its new digital currency. Government’s cryptocurrency superintendent Carlos Vargas stated out that the presale and an initial offer will be made in hard currencies and cryptocurrencies.

The idea of this Venezuelan currency did not go well with the U.S. president Donald Trump. He issued orders prohibiting U.S citizens or anyone inside the U.S territory from engaging in transactions related to this oil-backed currency. The Trump government mandated Petro’s initial presale coin handouts as the efforts of Maduro’s regime to evade U.S. sanctions. He also declared all related transactions illegal and unconstitutional.

Experts on cryptocurrency regulation mount this as a very predicted move by the American government. But for Maduro, the digital currency is likely to overcome the financial blockade. Anyhow petro has been all together in a win-win situation. Through the ban and bad publicity, it has gained itself a great commercial value. The free publicity of the cryptocurrency has even helped it double the number of interest investors. So, in all possibilities, the ban has proved to be a blessing in disguise for this Venezuelan currency.

Dmitriy

Having majored in Social Psychology and Economics, I worked as a team lead of a tech and fundamental analysis lab in the Applied System Analysis Research Institute. I write financial articles for various international media. I also hold the position of a Chief Analyst at RoboForex.