Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Aug 03, 2025

Venezuela’s ‘Surprise’ New Cryptocurrency May Be Used for Foreign Trade, Association Says

Venezuela’s ‘Surprise’ New Cryptocurrency May Be Used for Foreign Trade, Association Says

Venezuela already has a cryptocurrency, the Petro, which it launched in 2018, but its current status as a viable alternative currency is unknown.

President Nicolas Maduro has promised Venezuelans “a surprise” new cryptocurrency known as the digital bolivar, saying he would make an important announcement on the currency soon.

“We have a surprise: the digital bolivar. We will provide more details about it later,” the president said in a national television address Wednesday.


Maduro said the Venezuela had achieved a digitization rate of 77 percent for payments in 2020 in the form of using debit cards to make payments, and reiterated a pledge made last month to achieve a rate of 100 percent by the end of the year, completely squeezing out cash payments in both paper bolivars and foreign currencies.

No other details about the digital bolivar were given, but Jose Angel Alvarez, president of Venezuela’s National Cryptocurrency Association, believes the new cryptocurrency could complement the petro, telling decrypt.co that one to be used for domestic transactions and the other for foreign trade.

Ray Falconi, another association member, told the outlet that the new currency could be used to continue dollarizing the economy as part of the state’s recent initiative to stabilize the fiscal situation and get inflation under control. “It could be possible to convert the digital dollars handled by the banks and pay with our digital coin with any bank,” he explained.

“That’s why the government is conducting a first step of opening dollar accounts: to be able to capture cash and digital currency and convert it to a token backed with those dollars,” Falconi suggested.


Last month, Caracas lifted currency exchange controls, allowing citizens to establish debit accounts in dollars (with transactions processed in bolivars), and raising the official exchange rate to coincide with that found on the black market.

“We have created a resistance economy. This is why I have authorized the opening of accounts in convertible currencies,” Maduro said in his Wednesday remarks.

Fernando Medina, chief technical officer at Vlockchain, a Caracas-based blockchain consultancy, believes the digital bolivar could become a full-fledged central bank currency that enjoys the status of legal tender, which the Petro presently does not.

A brainchild of President Maduro’s, the petro is said to be pegged to a basket of goods including oil, gas, gold and diamonds, and was originally conceived as a blockchain-based means to circumvent US sanctions. To encourage its use, the currency was handed out in small quantities to citizens and allowed to be used to pay taxes and make other payments. Caracas also hoped to use the petro to facilitate foreign trade, including oil trade with other countries.

However, there has been little news on the petro since its launch, with the US preemptively banning its use in 2018 and calling it a “scam.” Foreign traders don’t seem to be sure of its current status.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
×