The dire situation in which Venezuela finds itself gives ground to some really relevant innovations.
TLDR: The solution that I think Venezuela found in the Petro
Venezuela will issue Petros which are linked to the price of a barrel of venezuelan crude oil. This is a concept which no government has done until now in the crypto-space. It is ingenious as these Petros are in reality tax credits for the amount of money paid for a barrel of crude and can thus only be used in reality by venezuelan tax-payers. But these tax credits will be held by thousands or millions of investors world-wide, who just hodl them as if they were a barrel of oil.
This means that it is a No-Interest-Loan in reality to the venezuelan government. Like the hodled US-Dollars worldwide are a No-Interest-Loan to the US-Government, allowing them to overspent for the last 50 years and build bases in 150 countries, assuring that the only accepted form of payment for oil is in USD and so allowing the scheme to continue.
It is interesting to note that a difference with these Petros is that they allow a holder always to get the value of a barrel of oil for one Petro, while the USD's over time make it necessary to hand over more USD's for a barrel of oil, so being subject to devaluation, while the Petro theoretically does not have this problem.
Venezuela's problems
Venezuela has hyperinflation and suffers from international sanctions. People have to take a kilo of bolívar bills with them in order to pay a restaurant for a meal. Their different currency exchange rates do not work anymore and black-markets have appeared for any conceivable product as imposed maximum prices have made them disappear from the shelves in the (expropriated) stores.
The government is not able to raise any more money through the usual capital markets in order to import necessary products, like food or toilet paper as local production capacity has disappeared because of expropriation.
The country also has lost all of its credibility internationally, being many leaders accused of drug trafficking and more.
Blockchain is the only option
The rules of the blockchain are strictly enforced. This helps a government which has lost all of its credibility to recover some faith from investors that this time the government will comply with its promises.
Also it allows individuals to use it in any country of the world to hold it even if their governments do not approve of such conduct. As everything can be done peer-to-peer without the involvement or permission of third parties. So socialists in any country can helpout their fellow socialists in Venezuela by giving them this free loan.
Venezuela opens up to 8 crypto-exchanges in the country
A country which wants to capitalize on the crypto market needs to have a working infrastructure in order to allow their citizens to exchange Petros to Ethereum, Bitcoin or whatever internationally respected cryptocurrency. So this might convert Venezuela actually in an internationally important hub for crypto-transactions, as the regime depends on a working cryptomarket in order to sustain itself.
Trading the Petro in 36 exchanges world-wide
I really do not know how this will be possible to be traded all around the world as I understand that under the rules of sanctions any exchange who would trade the Petro would fall under the same sanctions like Venezuela. Venezuela says it has those 36 exchanges agreeing to collaborate, but I doubt it will happen in the end. So in the end I think the 8 locally approved exchanges will have to do the Petro-Bitcoin or whatever exchanges.
Replacing the Bolivar with the Petro in Venezuela?
The hyperinflation has made a nightmare out of cash-transactions. The government is not able to print enough currency so that a normal exchange with a few bills would be possible.
In the Petro-whitepaper they say that they will be supporting the exchange and acceptance, the accounting in local companies in whatever possible way. So I think this might end in a replacement of the Bolivar by the Petro in Venezuela.
Why the limited amount? A test case for future ICO's?
They say that never more than the 100 million Petros will be issued. 5 billion USD worth is the most Ethereum I think can handle at the moment with its 100 billion marketcap. (They now seem to have changed to NEM instead of Ethereum, but though they claim to have sold a billion worth of Petros none of those tokens have moved yet, so let us just assume any vehicle, it is not really important what vehicle they might use).
But already a few days later they came out they want to issue a "Petro Oro" (Petro Gold) backed by its Gold reserves. So I think if the Petro works they will issue other "backed" currencies... Perhaps the "Petro Tomato" or whatever. Getting access to much more liquidity... Perhaps for the amount of the total venezuelan debt? A 150 billion USD?? They could liquidate their debt and stop paying interests.
Other countries might follow soon
If the US does not intervene militarily and just looks at this loss of their privilege for which they fight so hard in many countries all around the world since the second world war, other independent countries will follow soon in their footsteps.
What Venezuela can, we can do as well, will be their slogan. The issuances for more and more countries might get bigger and bigger.
The impact of this will be a strongly rising cryptomarket.
Which vehicle will support this pactice better? SMT's: the better option for future issuances?
First it was talked about the use ERC20 tokens from Ethereum, now in the documentation it has changed to NEM. But I think SMT's would be much better suited, as Steem will have an internal decentralized exchange for those tokens, which cannot be inhibiting the exchange. ERC20 tokens have to be listed in centralized exchanges as far as I know, where regulations could inhibit the listing. If you have more detailed ideas I would love to see them as comments below.
The standardized smart contract in Steem will allow easy issuances and allow holders to trust more easily that no bugs will occur. It is rumored that 36,000 Ethereum contracts are buggy. The latest freeze of a 280 million USD is just a witness of the problem of poorly designed custom contracts in Ethereum. Which investor wants to live with such a risk?? We will have to see the final implementation of SMT's in order to see how SMT's might fit in their exactly though...
Easier holding for governments
The account recovery options and 3-day savings account options of Steem makes it much more easy to hold positions for governments, as unauthorized withdrawals from savings can be stopped in time. This is an important advantage even over multi-signature from Bitcoin or other coins.
Disclaimer: This is no endorsement for investment in the Petro, or that the Petro even might come to fruition. Venezuela has shown many times that they are not to be trusted and that the execution of their plan might be poorly executed. This article only wants to highlight what might be their plan and the relevance this might have on the global crypto-community. This is only my opinion. Please comment below and leave your opinion.