ambcrypto.com
The world of cryptocurrencies has seen many ups and downs recently with several proponents in the space pushing hard for the mainstream adoption of digital assets. One unlikely candidate has been Petro, the state-backed cryptocurrency created by the Nicolas Maduro-led Venezuelan government.
The cryptocurrency has drawn a lot of flak from its citizens as well as bodies from around the globe, the main issue pertaining to the lack of oil that Petro is supposed to be linked to. Another major issue in Venezuela is the rampant rise of inflation and the growing dissidence in the public forum.
The latest update on Petro from the government of Venezuela states that the value of the cryptocurrency will be hiked to 36,000 sovereign bolivars. The state said that the increase and a higher minimum wage is aimed to combat the “criminal dollar”. In a video, Maduro stated:
“I want us to create a great alliance to produce and create new formulas of investment and financing.”
The newly proposed plan is to increase the minimum wages by 300 percent to 18,000 bolivars per month, while simultaneously increasing the value of Petro by four times. The President has said that this new framework will stabilize the crumbling economy, an economy that analysts predicted would touch the rate of 1 million percent in 2018.
Criticisms against the new model are far-ranging, involving economists and opposition leaders. Juan Guaido, the leader of the Nation Assembly of Venezuela, had said:
“Today, Nicolas Maduro mocks the Venezuelan people, once again, after taking economic measures that only bleed more in the pocket of Venezuelans. The Venezuelan economy does not improve with an increase in the salary.”
Elsewhere, Asdrubal Oliveros, the director of Econalitica, a research organization, gave his opinion by saying:
“There is no intention to rectify the direction of the economy so it will continue on its deteriorating path in 2019.”
Petro was also in the news recently when Nicolas Maduro’s government filed a complaint in the World Trade Organization [WTO] against the sanctions taken by the United States. The complaint read:
“The United States has imposed certain coercive trade-restrictive measures on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in the context of attempts to isolate Venezuela economically.”