Venezuela has reportedly authorized six local digital asset exchanges to begin selling its controversial national cryptocurrency, the Petro. According to Venezuelan news outlet, the Noticiero Digital, the Petro has been available since Wednesday (October 17th) on six websites – which the nation’s government claims are exchanges.
The notice from the local news source reads: “The Petro [is] available [now] at six exchanges, although President Maduro announced previously that there would be 16 certified companies that could market the digital currency.”
“Most Powerful Exchanges In The World”
Websites currently supporting the Petro include Amberes Coin (amberescoin.com), Afx Trade (afx.trade), Bancar (bancarexchange.io), Cave Blockchain (caveblockchain.com), Criptolago (criptolago.com.ve), and Cryptia (cryptiaexchange.com).
Some of these crypto exchange websites have also started to promote, or advertise, the Petro on their platforms. Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, claims the exchanges that list the country’s national digital currency “are the most powerful in the world.”
Local Websites Claim To Be Government-Regulated Exchanges
Cryptia’s exchange site claims to support trading Bitcoin (BTC) against Ethereum (ETH), Dash, and Ripple (XRP). However, it currently has zero trading volumes. There’s also a section on Cryptia’s website that says (translated from Spanish): “Buy and sell petros through our platform. Access the cryptocurrency [petro] in bolivares and exchange them for bitcoin, ethereum or US dollars.”
Meanwhile the Amberes Coin website claims to be “authorized by the Venezuelan State for the purchase and sale of the petro, bitcoin, ether and any digital assets.” Afx trade states that it’s regulated by Venezuela’s government and authorized, or licensed, to trade “digital assets inside and outside the national territory.”
Notably, president Maduro’s administration had released a new whitepaper a few weeks ago, which many believe is quite similar to Dash’s whitepaper. As CryptoGlobe reported in August, Ryan Taylor, the Dash Core Group CEO, claimed that over 200 merchants (on average) had been signing up to use the privacy-focused cryptocurrency each month.
“No Sign Of Petro” In Venezuela
However, local residents have said that hardly anyone is using Dash in South America. Also as CryptoGlobe covered in late August, the Venezuelan cabinet Minister, Hugbel Roa, revealed that: “Nobody has been able to make use of the petro … nor have any resources been received” as the nation’s cryptocurrency was still in its development stages.
Meanwhile, a local crypto trader said:
There is no way to link prices or exchange rates to a token that doesn’t trade.
Notably, Venezuela’s Cryptoassets division, which is reportedly tasked with managing the sale and purchase of Petro, “does not yet have a physical presence.”
