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Topic: Venezuela Claims $735 Million Raised in First Cryptocurrency Sale (Read 127 times)

full member
Activity: 266
Merit: 101
And so it begins....

I have to encourage people to stay as far away from the petro as possible. You don't know how much of that money came from investors interested in the possibilities of the petro vs how much was just a way to buy favor with a leader by making him a "loan" that was a loophole around international sanctions. The price of a petro is almost impossible to guess, although because it is "tied" to oil I can only assume it will be like tether...a stablecoin that periodically crashes whenever everyone decides it could go to zero.
newbie
Activity: 176
Merit: 0
It will be exciting to watch how the first government issued shitcoin will perform. My guess is: It will fail just like the Bolivar.


As far as I know, Cambodia will be the second country to release coin. That's a good news
jr. member
Activity: 154
Merit: 1
Interesting! I would really be watching this space lets see how it plays out. though I am trying to see how the government is able to get investor confidence with all the political instability there.
newbie
Activity: 13
Merit: 0
Who wouldn't trust Hugo Chavez
legendary
Activity: 3514
Merit: 1963
Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
It will be exciting to watch how the first government issued shitcoin will perform. My guess is: It will fail just like the Bolivar.

Agreed. It all comes down to trust in the end. Can you trust these governments not to increase the coin cap? Can you trust governments to protect the nodes that would form their decentralized network? I have seen some government IT networks in third world countries and they are a absolute mess.

Can you trust these governments not to mess with the core protocol components of this technology? < rate at which these coins are mined >  Will governments "Rollback" transactions to hide corruption or mistakes?  

                                                                                                                 <<<< Trust = Bitcoin >>>>
AGD
legendary
Activity: 2070
Merit: 1164
Keeper of the Private Key
It will be exciting to watch how the first government issued shitcoin will perform. My guess is: It will fail just like the Bolivar.
newbie
Activity: 176
Merit: 0
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro is claiming that the country has raised $735 million in the first day of a sale for its controversial "petro" cryptocurrency.

Announced late Tuesday night, Maduro offered no evidence to back up the claim, though the messaging notably came directly from his official Twitter account.

A grandes problemas, ¡grandes soluciones! Desde el primer minuto el juego arrancó bien, y arrancamos ganando: 4.777 millones de yuanes o 735 millones de dólares es el resultado inicial de las operaciones de intención de compra del Petro. #AlFuturoConElPetro pic.twitter.com/LoaDgj4rr1

-- Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) February 21, 2018

Reuters and the Associated Press said that no information about who invested in the pre-sale was offered by Maduro, who unveiled the results during a national broadcast on Tuesday.

That said, Maduro struck bullish notes about the initiative, which he unveiled in December with the intent of using it to circumvent sanctions imposed by the U.S. government.

"Today, a cryptocurrency is being born that can take on Superman," Maduro was quoted as saying by Reuters, referring to the U.S. by way of the comic book character. AP further cited him: "We have taken a giant step into the 21st century."

The presale was launched Tuesday and is planned to last into next month.

As CoinDesk reported previously, the Venezuelan government claims that the petro token will be backed by a single barrel of oil and tied to the market price from the previous day.

Yet questions remain about which network the token will operate within, given that one document released today highlights the ethereum network, while another, constituting a buyer's guide, cites an alternative blockchain system called NEM.

Conflicting details aside, Venezuela's plan represents the first time that a country has moved to issue its own cryptocurrency. The story has grabbed global headlines and sparked rejections from politicians both inside and outside of the South American country.

Critics, including those from Venezuela's opposition-controlled Congress, have attacked the plan as an illegal act and a vehicle for corruption. Senators from the U.S. have also raised concerns about the expressed plan to avoid sanctions through the cryptocurrency's use, though how that will play out in practice remains to be seen.

Image via Twitter

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is an independent media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. Have breaking news or a story tip to send to our journalists? Contact us at [email protected].
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