The president of the National Association of Cryptocurrencies of Venezuela (Asonacrip) praised the recent bull run seen in bitcoin’s prices across the board, which “favors the usability of a very novel crypto asset,” such as the petro (PTR).
Petro Is Gathering Strength Due to Its Surging Prices in the Secondary Market, Says Venezuela’s Asonacrip
During an interview with the Venezuelan TV channel Globovisión, Jose Ángel Álvarez pointed out that the country’s state-backed cryptocurrency is starting “to gather strength” because they’re witnessing a surge in the secondary market quotes.
This is given in the context of the adoption of gas stations’ owners who are implementing petro payments, allowing their customers to pay for services with PTR, said Álvarez. He added that PDVA — Venezuela’s state-owned oil and natural gas company — is accepting payments in PTR as well.
However, the president of Asonacrip believes that U.S. sanctions on the petro are still representing a hurdle because it cannot spread globally. In consequence, the crypto asset can be traded only in Venezuela.
On June 11, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro claimed that almost 15% of all fuel payments at petrol stations were made using the state-backed cryptocurrency.
Although the figures revealed over the year by the government show that Venezuelans are still struggling to find usability for the petro. Stressing the need to strengthen education on cryptocurrencies across the nation, Álvarez commented:
The power is in the information, if ordinary Venezuelans, professionals, businessmen begin to understand how bitcoin can change the world, how the petro can change the national economy and we make a great national agreement in favor of that. to get real benefits.
The Real Quote of Petro
There is no clarity on the current price of the petro because the crypto asset is not quoted against foreign fiat currencies. Still, Asonacrip’s Álvarez shed some light on the quote of the cryptocurrency that was supposed to equal 1 barrel of Venezuelan oil. He explained:
At this moment, the value of the petro in the primary market is above 60 million bolivars. What happens is that there are two markets: the primary market, which is the market of the issuing entity, and there is the case of the secondary market made up of people, companies, and institutions that interact directly and define how much you pay or how much we pay for the price of a digital asset.
According to the current market prices, 1,061,053 bolívars is equal to $1 dollar.
On Nov. 30, news.Bitcoin.com reported that the Venezuelan Army inaugurated a crypto mining center with bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment to generate “unblockable income,” managed by the 61st Agustín Codazzi Engineer Conditioning Brigade.
Do you think that in 2021 the petro will be trading on foreign crypto exchanges? Let us know in the comments section below.
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