Venezuela Claims Petro Cryptocurrency Has Raised $3bn from Investors in 127 Countries

The Venezuelan government has made some new claims about the pre-sale of the country’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the petro. After one week, President Nicolas Maduro said that the petro had raised $3 billion from 171,015 certified purchases, from investors in 127 countries. The majority of the orders were in dollars, followed by bitcoin and ether, according to Maduro.

Also read: Indians Look to Buy Bitcoin Overseas as Regulations Tighten

Maduro Says 171,015 Purchases from 127 Countries

Nicolas Maduro.

The president of Venezuela announced this week that his nation’s cryptocurrency, the petro, had received “a total of 171,015 certified purchases,” Telesur reported.

According to the information posted on the website of the country’s vice president, Maduro further revealed that “40.8% has been offered in dollars, 6.5% in euros, 18.4% in ethereum, 33.8% in bitcoin and 0.2% in yuan,” adding that:

About 87,284 users made offers to acquire petros, of which 3,523 are companies and 83,761 people…127 countries have participated at the moment.

Venezuelan government’s illustration of the petro’s certified purchases after one week.

The Venezuelan newspaper with government backing, Correo del Orinoco, has named some of the countries that its government claims to have participated in the sale so far. They include “Afghanistan, Albania, Germany, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Qatar, Chile, China, Cyprus, Colombia, South Korea, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, United Arab Emirates, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United States, Estonia, Philippines, Finland, France, etc,” the news outlet wrote.

Earlier this week, Poland refuted reports of its interest in the petro. The director of the Latin American Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Shchetinin, also told reporters this week that the petro “should be carefully studied before talking about the possibilities of its use by Russia,” Ria Novosti reported. Meanwhile, Russian startup Zeus reportedly helped Venezuela with the launch of the petro, according to Alexander Ruchyev, president of financial holding company Osnova.

Venezuela Says Petro Has Raised $3 Billion

The Venezuelan government announced on February 20 the start of the pre-sale for its national oil-backed cryptocurrency. Maduro claimed to have raised $735 million for it on the first day.

Hugbel Roa

The country’s Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Hugbel Roa, subsequently clarified that the pre-sale will last 30 days. “After the pre-sale, [there will be] the sale of the digital asset [petro], which will last 15 days,” he described. “After 45 days that will last these two processes, we will start with great force to consolidate the entire exchange subsystem of the petro.”

According to the state-owned radio station Radio Mundial, Maduro said that “more than three billion dollars are reported after sales and transactions related to the Venezuelan cryptocurrency, the petro.” This was confirmed on the website of the Venezuelan Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information (Minci) which quoted Maduro:

In the first seven days, since its [petro’s] launch, the state has received 3 billion dollars, which will be used to cover the financial needs of the country.

Do you think Venezuela has raised $3 billion from investors in 127 countries as claimed? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock and the Venezuelan government.

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