Venezuela Launches El Petro

If Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros has been thinking about the good of his own people, it would be difficult to guess so at first glance. Under Mr Maduro’s reign, Venezuela’s fragile economy slumped in the doldrums. Inflation is at a record high and the army’s been summoned to land legitimacy of the regime against the people’s defiance.
Things are not looking well at all and you would think that Mr Maduro would have a lot to worry about. But rather than address everyday worries, Mr Maduro prefers to dream big. Depleting the petrol reserves and submitting them to his will, he is now more concerned about multiplying his riches and providing safe harbour for his cronies.
On 20 February, Venezuela launched the el Petro coin. This is an interesting experiment from a despicable man which will have implications that go well beyond the digital.
Still, Mr Maduro is clinging on to the hopes that the new digital asset, paired with the craze over the segment, would attack additional investors to prop up his financially-ailing regime.
However, we are not entirely convinced that by joining on the Bitcoin bandwagon Mr Maduro will fix his worries, nor will it help reverse the course for disaster his inept government has determined for a whole nation.
What really is el Petro and does it have a future?
El Petro is the latest cryptocurrency to make its debut on the deregulated market of crypto assets. The government decided to act this amid the general madness about Bitcoin when the asset hit $20,000.
With the current slump of Bitcoin down to $11,000, Mr Maduro may have squandered his chances, and effectively options for restoring the economy under his rule.
Now Venezuela is planning to sell $38.4 million today and the regime’s hopes are that it will help add new investors by selling at a discount price.
Mr Maduro steeped the launch of the cryptocurrency in his populist rhetoric. “We are going to have a total success for the welfare of Venezuela,” the President’s reassurance ran.
El Perto is also a way for the country to attempt to counterweight steep regulations coming from the United States. The sanctions have been buffeting the country for a while now.
There are reasons to be concerned about El Petro. The Venezuelan government is seeking to bury its own inaptitude by operating in sectors where it can leave no imprint. That is worrying.
Digital currencies are increasingly going to serve the privileged and crooked rather than aspire to create a libertarian dream.
If the government manages to rise a substantial sum, it would be most certainly used to prop itself up and continue to bestow favours on its own men while neglecting the sufferings of the common man.
Is this what cryptocurrencies are really about? We hope not. Otherwise they will only have future if the custodian of the world’s financial order are slow to act. Or fail to act.