Why And How Are Venezuela And Russia Are Collaborating On Cryptocurrency?

The New Cryptocurrency Petro

According to Coindesk, the Venezuelan and Russian officials met in Moscow to discuss the launch of Venezuela’s new Petro cryptocurrency. It seems that Russian officials have taken an interest in Venezuela’s state-backed digital currency whereas the terms of the meeting remain unclear. So, for a potential collaboration what are the implications as to what the collaboration even looks like? Meeting with Russian officials in Moscow, the day after the launch of Petro, Venezuelan Finance Minister Simon Zerpa tweeted through his official account that it is possible that the meetings were focused on other issues as well where the topic of the Petro which was launched late came up. 

What Are The Economic And Financial Cooperation?

It was understood from Delgado’s tweet that in the meeting they had reviewed the economic and financial cooperation between the two countries with emphasis on the new cryptocurrency of Venezuela, the Petro. Furthermore, he continued that both Russia and Venezuela continue to strengthen their trade balance while continuing to advance in the construction of a multipolar and pluricentric world that is free of imperial tensions. 

It was later found that Delgado's twitter statements came to be broad and vague thereafter suggesting only that Russia and Venezuela were in discussions thereby regarding the dubious new cryptocurrency supposedly linked to Venezuela’s oil reserves. If any it remains unclear exactly what role Russia’s government will play in the development or proliferation of the Petro. Hence it was commented by the Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro that the Petro is sure to be useful in bypassing the international sanctions imposed on the country. 

Why Are Many Venezuelans Skeptical Of The Petro?

Venezuela hopes that Russia can help to bridge the gap between itself and other countries as it does not have many amicable relationships with other governments around the world. Being already linked with the Petro cryptocurrency project, comes the Russian company called Aerotrading. the Petro is a polarising topic even among Venezuelan citizens where some of them view it as a sign of a new economic era, thereby others believe it is yet another vehicle for government corruption which was in a country that has already experienced massive levels of inappropriate activity whether or not the Petro is accepted by the international community remains to be seen. 

The Truth About Venezuela’s Claim To Have Pre-Sold $735 Million of Petro Cryptocurrency

While entering the cryptocurrency space, the Venezuelan government and the country claimed that it had already made a splash with the digital currency called Petro as the government further claims that the pre-sale of the Petro drew in $735 million in investments on the first day. Here the government, therefore, has issued a buyer’s manual as well as indicated that the investors are sure to purchase Petros thereafter using both hard currencies and cryptocurrencies but not bolivars as stated by Bitocin.com. 

The Pre-Sale Began Shortly

As it was scheduled to begin the Petro pre-sale was set to take place as a private sale according to the cryptocurrency whitepaper, whereas several hours before the official start time, the Venezuelan government announced that the pre-sale had already started and thereby releasing a buyer manual at the same time along with an anti-money laundering compliance document. Been made available to investors around the world, the pre-sale saw 82.4 million Petro tokens made available and according to Venezuela’s vice president, Tareck El Aissami the Petro cryptocurrency tokens could be then purchased by the Venezuelan nationals as well as other foreign nationals. 

Even though the country’s Superintendent of Cryptocurrencies Carlos Vargas at the same time suggested that sales wouldn’t be made in bolivars whereas the government’s responsibility was therefore to put them in the best hands in order to facilitate the creations of a secondary market.  

How Come $735 Million Despite Glitches?

Claiming that the country had received $ 735 million on the first day of a pre-sale for the digital currency Venezuela’s President Nicholas Maduro is seen to be reporting technical issues with the buying process for the Petro including a JavaScript error thereby reportedly preventing users from being able to complete their purchases. Thereby it was found that the Petro cryptocurrency website comments that the only thing needed for the Petro is to open a digital Petro wallet which once opened generates an email address that you can share with anyone who wants to transfer PTR to the wallet. 

The Final Words

To protect Petro investors against hacking and theft of the cryptocurrency, the buyer’s manual lists ways in which the Venezuelan government aims to do it as analysts outside of the country are suspicious particularly in light of recent high-profile hacks in Japan.