Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised press conference that the country’s government would soon enable the cryptocurrency payment method for citizens. The president further informed that the government has been using cryptocurrencies as a method for free national and international payments.
According to several reports, Venezuela’s central bank is running internal tests to see if they can hold cryptocurrencies in its reserves. Currently, US sanctions do not allow the country from making any international transactions. Maduro led government previously has been accused of using cryptocurrencies to get past US sanctions.
The state-run oil and natural gas company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, is said to be behind this step as the company is seeking payments in Bitcoin and Ethereum from its suppliers.
Venezuela has been suffering from one of the worst hyperinflation crisis in history. As many as 3 million people have migrated from the country because of the unavailability of necessary supplies. Many people have turned to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to survive in the country. Earlier United States banned the use of the official cryptocurrency of Venezuela, Petro.
Maduro said that Donald Trump and his sanctions are blocking Venezuela from carrying out transactions in any of the world’s banks. He added that their payment system works perfectly in China and Russia. Venezuela’s desperate attempts to revive the country’s economy have not produced any results so far.
Let us know in comments what do you think about Venezuela’s step of introducing the crypto payment method.
