Venezuela: Petro Cryptocurrency Becomes National Unit-of-Account

The cryptocurrency situation in Venezuela received a push on Tuesday, Aug. 14, after President Nicolás Maduro announced that the state-issued Petro token is legally a unit-of-account in the crisis-stricken country, ABC International reports.

Launched in February 2018, the oil-backed cryptocurrency Petro was developed by the Venezuelan government to evade U.S. and European economic sanctions amid the deepening political crisis.

Now, the country is pegging the Petro as a monetary unit and even aims to pay salaries and provide pensions with the cryptocurrency.

First announced on a televised interview with a state-run news channel, Maduro stated national oil company PDVSA will begin to use Petro as an "Official" unit-of-account.

Venezuelans will be introduced to a new salary system that partly incentivizes talent with cryptocurrencies, alongside changing the tariffs for several products linked to the Petro.

"As of next Monday, Venezuela will have a second accounting unit based on the price, the value of the Petro. It will be a second accounting unit of the Republic and will begin operations as a mandatory accounting unit of our PDVSA oil industry."

The president believes Petro could mark a "Substantial improvement" in Venezuela economic woes, although the reasons for this proclamation are not readily clear.

As per reports, the Venezuelan Central Bank will peg the bolivar to Petro prices, the latter of which shall be determined by international currencies.

The Petro whitepaper claims to be fully compliant with Venezuelan legislation, despite the country's opposite claiming the contrary.

Venezuela is also set to be benefitted from export trade as the Petro is easily converted into U.S. dollars and the bolivar.