- In a surprising move, the Venezuelan authorities have announced their decision to completely shut down the Petro cryptocurrency project.
- Effective January 15th, user accounts on the platform will be blocked, and the remaining funds will be converted into the national currency, bolivars.
- The closure of the project comes after it faced criticism for issues with fund withdrawals.
- News of the imminent closure first surfaced in June 2023, with reports stating that it was the result of a lengthy investigation.
According to a recent report by Barrons citing the government website, all crypto wallets on the Patria platform will be frozen on January 15, 2024, with the remaining PTR being converted into bolivars.
Earlier in April 2023, local journalist Cesara Moya confirmed that all members of the Venezuelan National Crypto Assets Authority (Sunacrip) had been terminated.
Furthermore, Moya revealed that the Petro project turned out to be a rug pull, with PTR holders losing access to their funds and the Petro App wallet ceasing to function.
As of now, there has been no official confirmation regarding the closure of user accounts, and PTR trading on Patria can only be accessed through personal accounts.
It is important to note that the Petro project was launched in 2018 with the backing of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. It is a cryptocurrency token that is tied to the country’s vast oil reserves.
The authorities claimed to have raised approximately $3 billion in the first week after the project’s launch and subsequently launched several initiatives to promote the adoption of PTR in 2018.
However, interest in the token waned over time, exacerbated by the United States’ decision to block PTR in 2018, citing its use by the Maduro regime to evade sanctions.
In February 2023, a report by Chainalysis revealed that Venezuela was also utilizing USDT (Tether) for similar purposes, adding to the country’s ongoing challenges.
Previously, we covered a UN report highlighting the increasing use of USDT for money laundering across the Southeast region.