Crypto-Funded Youth Bank Launched In Venezuela

Announcements, News | May 4, 2018 By:

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has announced the creation of a cryptocurrency bank for youth and students, which will be funded by the country’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro.

During a mass ceremony in the state of Aragua, Maduro said the youth bank will begin its operations with 20 million Petros. He added that close to 1.2 billion dollars-worth of the cryptocurrency would be given to the youth bank to get it up and running.

The goal of the bank is to support “productive initiatives. It will support young people who are part of the Chamba Juvenil Plan, a social program which promotes jobs for unemployed youth. More than a million young people are part of the Chamba Juvenil Plan, and the government expects that half a million more will be added in the coming months.

During his speech, the president also said that every university should have a mining farm to produce cryptocurrencies in order to strengthen the economy of Venezuela.

The news came after Venezuela certified 16 crypto exchanges to facilitate the adoption of the Petro. “The certification of these 16 exchanges is a demonstration of confidence in the system of Petro as a cryptocurrency, and will allow liquidity and solid transactional volume,” Maduro said.