Venezuela president, Nicolas Maduro has stated that within a short time, citizens will be able to make payments using cryptocurrencies.
Maduro, who made this known in a televised press conference as reported by Bloomberg on Monday, noted that “very soon” everyone in the country, including the public and private sectors can use cryptocurrencies as a “method for free national and international payments.”
“The finance minister and Venezuela’s central bank have new instruments which we will activate very soon so that everyone can do banking transactions, as well as national and international payments through the central bank’s accounts,” Maduro said. He then added:
“Venezuela is working within the cryptocurrency world.”
Crypto to Help Venezuela Bypass Sanctions
Per the report, Bloomberg noted that Venezuela is seeking alternatives to bypass the current U.S. sanctions, which has cut off the country from the global financial system. Since the U.S. sanctioned the nation, Maduro has made efforts to find financial relief, including the creation of its state-owned cryptocurrency, Petro.
“[U.S. President] Donald Trump and his sanctions are blocking Venezuela from carrying out a transaction in any of the world’s banks. There are other formulas to pay, and it’s what we’re using because our payment system works perfectly in China and Russia,” Maduro added.
However, Venezuela’s plan to adopt cryptocurrency as a means of payment has met opposition from critics, one of which includes the country’s opposition leader, Juan Guaido.
Guaido, who also had a press conference yesterday, believes the use of cryptos as a means of payment in the country explains how desperate the current government is in covering the nation’s economic woes.
Meanwhile, the news is coming in less than a week after the country reportedly conducted internal tests to see if it can include major cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in its reserves.
The request as Coinfomania reported was made by state-run Oil and Natural Gas Company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, which planned on transferring Bitcoin or Ether to the central bank and be able to pay its suppliers with the cryptos.
It remains uncertain though whether the latest crypto payments being planned by Maduro will involve the country’s national cryptocurrency, Petro or the aforementioned, Bitcoin and Ether.
