Posted 1/15/2024, 8:04:00 AM
Venezuela Abandons State-Backed Petro Cryptocurrency After Corruption Scandals and U.S. Sanctions
- Venezuela is ending its controversial Petro cryptocurrency, launched in 2018 to bolster the bolívar currency amid economic crisis
- The Petro was backed by Venezuela's oil reserves, but faced illegality claims and 2019 US sanctions on a Russian bank that financed it
- The government linked the Petro to services like passports and pegged minimum wage to it
- The Petro's demise follows a corruption scandal over crypto use in oil operations and bitcoin mining crackdowns
- Remaining Petros are reportedly being converted into the struggling local bolívar currency