Venezuelan Government Certifies 16 Crypto Exchanges

Announcements, News | April 30, 2018 By:

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has certified 16 crypto exchanges to facilitate the adoption of the Petro, the country’s oil-backed cryptocurrency.

During the inauguration of Venezuela’s Power Expo 2018 in Caracas, Maduro announced that the pre-sale of the Petro has ended and that it has raised over $3 billion dollars.

“To date, the pre-sale of El Petro has obtained 3,338 million dollars,” Maduro said. “I have to report on the closing of El Petro’s first pre-sale. We closed with an amount of $3,338 billion. An economic miracle. Boot the Petro!”

To facilitate Petro transactions in the international market, Maduro has certified 16 crypto exchanges. Maduro is hoping that these exchanges will start listing the Petro soon.

“The certification of these 16 exchanges is a demonstration of confidence in the system of the Petro as a cryptocurrency, and will allow liquidity and solid transactional volume,” said Maduro.

According to local newspaper Correo del Orinoco, the certified 16 exchanges are “Criptoexchainge, Criptocapital, Asesoría Financiaera CA, Italcambio, Amberes Coin, Cave Blockchainge, Valoratta Casa de Bolsa, Coinsecure.ve, Critiaechainge, Criptolago, Criptoventraige CA, Criptoactivo Menets CA, Criptoactivo Bancar CA, Criptomundo Casa de Intercambio CA, Inversiones Financieras 1444 CA, [and] Criptoactivo Criptoes.”

However, none of the exchanges have officially confirmed the listing of the Petro so far. Coinsecure, which is one of the certified crypto exchanges, said Venezuela wanted to add the Petro as a cryptocurrency on the platform so they can trade the Petro against bitcoin and the rupee.

Coinsecure CEO Mohit Kalra claimed that Venezuela offered India a 30 percent discount on crude oil purchases if India uses the Petro.

“The offer that they have given to the Indian government is: you buy the Petro and we will give you a 30 percent discount,” said Kalra.

During the event, Maduro promised that he will continue promoting the oil-backed cryptocurrency. He said that the country’s fuel will be sold to all national and international airlines for Petro. He also said that he has signed paperwork “to create an Industrial and Economic Investment Fund in Petro.” The president has set aside “$8.50 million Petro equivalent of $510 million for credit loans.”