I had never even heard of this book: seems fascinating!

I don't know if the petro reflects the idea of technological control over a society: though this could certainly end up in the same space. That's why #1 and #3 are specific concerns of mine.

It's equally feasible that Maduro heard that people were using cryptocurrencies to evade capital controls, and he figured that this would represent a way to achieve the same result without giving much more thought to the issue beyond that.

Additionally, given all the issues the Bolivar is undergoing, it seems inevitable that Venezuela will need to re-denominate in the near future. It's much better marketing to have that occur because you're the first nation in the world to adopt a cryptocurrency, instead of being needed due to massive hyperinflation.