Since its announcement in December 2017, the petro, the Venezuelan cryptocurrency backed by oil, has been subject to controversy and criticism both internationally and within Venezuela. Most of those who support the implementation of this measure are affected by the ruling government of Nicolás Maduro, while the rest of Venezuelans criticize him or remain skeptical.
As far as is known so far, no exchange has wanted to list the token within its platforms. This usually happens when the project has high risks of fraud or fraud. The Petro, raised more than 3000 million dollars, and still do not know what use can be given to investors outside of Venezuela.
Within the Venezuelan territory, there are few shops that accept petros as a method of payment, but they are so small that it can not be classified as a currency. Many important figures within the Venezuelan political and economic scene have raised their voices to criticize this measure whose main purpose was to evade the sanctions imposed by the United States.
One of the strongest criticisms is the fact that the ordinary Venezuelan citizen does not understand how cryptocurrencies or blockchain work. So the Venezuelan government has been accused of issuing a token that is not available to its own inhabitants.
On the other hand, it is also important to take into account that a Venezuelan who earns minimum salary decreed (approximately 2 USD per month), can not afford to invest in a project whose minimum initial base is 20 USD (cost of Petro per unit). ).
One of the latest news that was revolving around the Petro, is the offer that India refused to buy crude oil at a preferential rate if the cryptocurrency was used as an exchange method.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of India, Sushma Swaraj, said specifically that she had no interest in using Petro cryptocurrency in the oil trade with the Venezuelan government. This is because the Central Bank of India prohibits commercial transactions with cryptocurrencies in Venezuela.
In early June, a Venezuelan economist named Victor Alvarez was interviewed by the newspaper El Nacional, and said the Maduro government created many legal doubts about its digital currency: "If the legal issue is not clear, the investor fears that be recognized when the government changes. " So the panorama of stability around Petro is not very clear.