Reuters: Venezuela’s Petro Has No Users, No Investors and No Oil to Back It Up

The petro has stirred up a lot of debate among the cryptocurrency community. Some believe it is a successful example of using the technology to create resource-backed assets and bypassing financial sanctions. Others see it as a scam by a corrupt government that already inflicted economic calamities such as hyperinflation against its own citizens. A new report is unlikely to end this debate but it does help shed light on what is really going on, as reported by Reuters.

Nobody Has Been Able to Make Use of the Petro

In contrast to statements by President Maduro that the petro has already brought in $3.3 billion and is actively being used to pay for imports, a cabinet minister revealed that the coin is not ready for prime-time just yet. Hugbel Roa, which oversees the government’s Venezuelan Blockchain Observatory, told Reuters that the coin is still in development and that “nobody has been able to make use of the petro … nor have any resources been received.” He described the NEM-based transactions as “early models,” and explained that buyers have only made “reservations” for petro, but it has not been released.

$20 Billion Investment Missing

Reporters visited the town of Atapirire, located in the bloc, and only found crumbling roads, abandoned old oil pumps and residents complaining about power outages and hungry kids. And a former oil minister that served for ten years under President Hugo Chavez and now lives in exile, Rafael Ramirez, recently estimated it would cost at least $20 billion to access the promised reserves. “The petro is being set at an arbitrary value, which only exists in the government’s imagination,” Ramirez stated.

Is the petro just a government scam? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.