Amidst the economic meltdown of Venezuela, the country pins some hope on its own digital token Petro. While the world and the citizens of the country are not sold on the tokens merit, the government orders the Venezuelan banks to use petro as a unit of account.
A report by Wire services AFP on Tuesday states that “all financial information” must be denominated in both the Bolivar (Venezuela’s official currency) as well as the Petro, Maduro government-launched cryptocurrency. Though without evidence, the government claims to have raised billions of dollars during a presale earlier this year, despite receiving critics from the opposition leaders in the country and internationally, including the U.S. government. Petro was controversially unveiled in December last year. In March, U.S. president Donald Trump signed executive orders against Venezuela that specifically targeted the country’s national cryptocurrency.
The recent mandate comes after the announcement that the state-owned oil and gas company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), will begin using the petro as a unit of account, and officials have also ordered that government-funded pensions and salaries be anchored to the cryptocurrencies.
Venezuela’s economic crisis has pushed around 2.3 million people to flee from the country since 2014, according to a United Nations report.
Read more: Venezuela Pegs It’s Currency “Bolivar” to Petro Cryptocurrency
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