This year, the Venezuelan government will be awarding Christmas bonuses to employees across the country in cryptocurrency, local news outlet Venepress reports. Previously, in 2018, the Venezuelan government converted retiree’s bonuses awarded on a monthly basis into Petro automatically.
Petro has been criticized by experts across the globe since February of last year when it was launched on a scheduled pre-sale. Local news organizations in the country reported that the Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has made the announcement that the country will soon be sending out Christmas bonuses to senior retirees and pensioners. He also stated that the grants this year will be paid in the cryptocurrency that is backed by the state’s oil reserves, called Petro.
The decision came as no surprise for the citizens of Venezuela. Since its launch, the Venezuelan government has been pushing its citizens to use the Petro digital currency and incorporate it in their everyday transactions. The government has encouraged businesses and individuals to conduct trade and commerce through Petro. As we previously reported, towards the end of 2018 Venezuela’s government has decided to convert pensioners’ grants automatically into the Petro cryptocurrency when they received it, without their consent.
Petro has raised concerns by some foreign observers since its official roll out. In August of 2018, it was accused to be a project backed by a debt-saddled entity and was thought to be completely centralized. Nevertheless, the Venezuelan government is persistent and has been promoting the growth of cryptocurrencies, especially Petro, in the country at great lengths.
Petro Gradually Replaces Fiat Currency in Venezuela
CryptoX Spain recently reported that Francisco Torrealba, a Venezuelan politician, is positive about the future of cryptocurrencies in the state and that soon the Petro digital currency will eventually be able to replace the traditional fiat money. Torrealba is currently working as the Deputy at the Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly.
Francisco Torrealba has previously remarked that the country is presently going through change on a massive scale and applauded the people working for the modernization of the country, including the president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro, and stated that he has been making large contributions to the success of the country.
Among the achievements of the president, he has clearly outlined his efforts towards the creation of Petro and has since strongly supported its use and benefits across the country.
He concluded by saying that everything in the future will come from the Petro virtual currency, implying that soon Petro will become a common use for the citizens of Venezuela and they will be able to purchase anything from it. One left to wonder if the citizens actually have the freedom to choose it by themselves.
