Venezuela President: First Day Petro Token Sales Raised $735 Million miljoen

Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro says the first day of the presale of the previously announced Petro cryptocurrency raised $735 million. Converted that is about 597 million euros.

Maduro shared the figures, among other things via Twitter, accompanied by the statement that ‘big problems require big solutions’. Reuters news agency notes that the president did not provide any details about buyers or provide evidence for his claim during his presentation. The presale of the Petro tokens began Tuesday, with 38.4 percent of the total 100 million tokens available for purchase, according to a specially set up website and accompanying white paper.

An ICO is due in March, with an additional 44 percent of the tokens going on sale. This brings the total to 82.4 percent, with the remaining share in the hands of the Venezuelan government. The total value of the 100 million Petros should correspond to $ 6 billion, according to Reuters.

The national virtual currency, which was announced in December, should be used to pay taxes, among other things. The valuation against the national currency bolívar takes into account the oil price of the previous day, the white paper states. It further describes that the NEM blockchain is used, according to Reuters an earlier version mentioned the Ethereum network.

Due to US sanctions, Venezuela cannot take out new loans with parties in the US. The Petro must be a way around this. The US government recently warned that the cryptocurrency could also be a violation of the sanctions imposed, according to Reuters. Venezuela is in an economic crisis and has to deal with strong inflation.