Venezuela President Maduro Forces Bank To Accept Petro Crypto

The Venezuela president is in the coming altcoin news for ordering the official bank of Venezuela (Banco de Venezuela) which is the nation’s biggest bank – to open desk for the Petro (PTC) cryptocurrency. The famous oil backed cryptocurrency which was created as a store of value in the country is apparently in the news again.

As an official tweet posted by the local Finance Ministry on Thursday notes, Maduro has reportedly urged the bank to start accepting the digital asset to the near 790 agencies spread throughout the country. As the Venezuela president said:

“I am giving the explicit order to open Petro transaction desks at all Banco de Venezuela agencies.”

This announcement was reportedly made while the bank was celebrating its 10th nationalization anniversary – right after Venezuela purchased it from Santander Group in 2009. On June 19, the Venezuela president shared a tweet in which he said that 924 million Bolivars (more than $92.5 million) have been allocated to the Digital Bank of Youth and Students, distributing the crypto wallets to one million young citizens. This move clearly aims to encourage Venezuelan citizens to accept the Petro token.

The president of the National Cryptocurrency Association, Jose Angel Alvarez, welcomed the announcement ordered by the Venezuela president and told the best cryptocurrency news sites that the infrastructure of the Banco de Venezuela can help and promote the nationwide adoption of the Petro cryptocurrency.

His statement was featured in the latest cryptocurrency news:

“It is a bold and correct decision to move forward towards a hybrid economy where the fiduciary currency of a country competes face to face with cryptocurrency.”

Maduro’s persistence in promoting the use of Petro has taken big offense at the United States too. As previously reported, Venezuela filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization, addressing “certain collective trade-restrictive measures” taken by the US government in an attempt to “isolate Venezuela economically.”

The strategy forced by the Venezuela president seems to be part of an aggressive plan to promote the use of cryptocurrencies all around the country. The wallets distributed to one million young citizens will come with an undisclosed amount of funds, and with that Maduro’s administration will encourage a nationwide acceptance of the polemic cryptocurrency.