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Tomorrow, Venezuela will commence the pre-sale of crypto currency Petro, and investments are expected from Turkey, Qatar, the US and Europe, according to the country’s crypto currency regulator. Crypto specialists and economists see the launch of Petro as a way to circumvent the sanctions imposed by the US and fight hyper inflation in the country.
Following the additional sanctions imposed in August 25, 2017, the US financial institutions are banned from having dealings in new debt and equity issued by the government of Venezuela and its state oil company. That has made the situation incredibly difficult for Venezuela. The country’s inflation rates are highest in the world, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expecting that it will reach 13,000% in 2018. The citizens continue to suffer because of food and medicine shortages.
To overcome difficulties arising from sanctions, the country has resorted to the creation of its own digital currency named “Petro.” About the pre-sale, Carlos Vargas,Venezuela’s crypto currency superintendent, said
“On Tuesday, there will be quite a few announcements about the start of the process. And there will surely be a lot of investors from Qatar, Turkey, and other parts of the Middle East, though Europeans and Americans will also participate.”
President Nicolas Maduro is optimistic that “Petro” will enable the country to ward off difficulties arising from the financial sanctions slapped by Washington. The country will be offering 100 million Petros to investors in two days beginning Tuesday.
Economists believe that investors will not be too much interested in the offering due to Venezuela’s financial woes. Furthermore, the US Treasury Department has warned that US citizens could be violating sanctions by investing in the Petro.
The government of Venezuela has so far revealed only little details about the crypto currency offering. Nearly 38.4% of the 100 million Petros is planned to be offered to investors at a discount of 60%.
While the country gets ready to issue a digital currency of its own, Maduro maintains that his government is a victim of an economic war led by opposition parties with the assistance from the US government.
