Petro (token)

Petro
Petro logo
Denominations
PluralPetros
CodePTR
Subunits
 1⁄100,000,000Mene
Development
Original author(s)
White paperPetro White Paper
Initial release20 February 2018 (6 years ago) (2018-02-20)
Ledger
Block explorerregistro.blockchain.gob.ve/web
Website
Websitewww.petro.gob.ve

The petro (₽), or petromoneda,[2] launched in February 2018, was a crypto token issued by the government of Venezuela.[3][4]

Announced in December 2017, it was supposed to be backed by the country's oil and mineral reserves, and was intended to supplement Venezuela's plummeting hard bolívar currency, as a means of circumventing U.S. sanctions and accessing international financing. On 20 August 2018, the sovereign bolívar was introduced, with the government stating it would be linked to the petro coin value.[5][6]

As of January, 2020, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro decreed it mandatory to pay with petro for government document services and airplane fuel for planes flying international flights.[7]

On January 15, 2024, the token was shut down and any remaining holdings were liquidated.[8]

  1. ^ Shuster, Simon (20 March 2018). "Exclusive: Russia Secretly Helped Venezuela Launch a Cryptocurrency to Evade U.S. Sanctions". Time. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference NPR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Chohan, Usman W. (7 February 2018). "Cryptocurrencies as Asset-Backed Instruments: The Venezuelan Petro". doi:10.2139/ssrn.3119606. S2CID 169091464. SSRN 3119606. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference launch was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Venezuela 'paralysed' by launch of sovereign bolivar currency, BBC News, 21 August 2018, archived from the original on 5 July 2022, retrieved 22 August 2018
  6. ^ "Venezuela rolls out new currency amid rampant hyperinflation". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  7. ^ "Maduro bids to revive Venezuela's 'petro' cryptocurrency". France 24. 14 January 2020. Archived from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Venezuela Kills Off Petro Cryptocurrency". Barron's. 12 January 2024. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.