Trump Bans Americans From Trading Venezuelan Petro Tokens

US President Trump has issued an injunction against US purchases of Venezuelan cryptocurrency Petro. The ban on the token is said to be aimed at increasing pressure on the country’s government.

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Trump issued an order on Monday banning U.S. citizens from transacting with the Petro, Bloomberg writes. The order shows that in practice, trading in any cryptocurrencies issued by the Venezuelan government is prohibited. The US Treasury Department must now draw up further rules regarding the ban. According to Bloomberg, the measure is intended to put further pressure on the Venezuelan government of President Nicolas Maduro. The United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuela for human rights violations; Trump previously called Maduro a dictator.

Venezuela announced at the end of last year that it wanted to introduce the Petro. The value of the token is linked to Venezuela’s raw material stocks such as oil. The introduction of the NEM blockchain-based crypto token allows the country to evade US sanctions. Maduro announced in February that almost 600 million euros had already been raised during the presale of the Petro.