The petro (symbol: ₽; abbreviation: PTR)[1] is a pre-mined Venezuelan token[2][3] based on blockchain technology and, according to laws passed by the government of Nicolás Maduro in that regard, backed by the reserves of several of Venezuela’s natural resources such as oil, gold, diamonds and gas. [4][5][questionable source] The government alleges that each petro would be backed by a barrel of oil from the Venezuelan crude basket. [6][7] The virtual currency has come under fire, some of which argue that the petro is not a cryptocurrency because it is not decentralized, and websites such as ICOindex have called the petro a scam. [8] By March 5, 2022, it is trading at 253 bolivars, an approximate equivalent of 57.98 US dollars, adjusted for the price of a barrel of Venezuelan oil located in South America. [9]History[edit]
On March 3, 2009, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, during a tour of the Middle East and Asia to raise oil prices, floated the idea of creating an international currency denominated petro,[10] that would be supported mainly by the oil reserves of some OPEC member countries of the world, and criticized the rupture of the United States with respect to the gold standard. [4][11][12] In April 2016, a gold-backed cryptocurrency was issued: DigixDAO. [13][14][15] In September 2017, Wilmar Castro Soteldo, Venezuela’s Minister of Agriculture and Lands, supported the creation of state digital currencies that would be based on the gold standard or other resources of the various countries of the world to “preserve the integrity of humanity,” rescue the Venezuelan economy, and end the hegemony of the U.S. dollar. [16][17][18]
Dante Rafael Rivas Quijada, member of the Currency Auctions Committee of DICOM,[19] on September 27, 2017 receives, through his Twitter account,[20] a proposal from José Ángel Álvarez Mayora, President of the National Association of Cryptocurrencies,[21] to hold a currency auction in cryptocurrencies. This public proposal dated from August 31, 2017,[22] and from that digital conversation is established on October 4, 2017 to dictate the Symposium “Intensive cryptocurrencies” which was moderated by José Ángel Álvarez Mayora at the BCV facilities. The symposium was attended by Ángel Salazar, CEO of Onixcon; Gabriel Jimenez executive director of TheSocialUS; Jaime Sandoval and Carlos López. In this forum José Ángel Álvarez formally presents his initiative that the state create a legal framework for cryptocurrencies, an ICO be created by PDVSA; The event ended with the video of Hugo Chávez Frías where he declares to the press for the first time, on March 30, 2009, about his idea of the Petro currency. [10]
