“El Petro” (PTR) is a digital currency backed by the Venezuela’s crude oil reserves, however since its launch it has faced lots of controversy. On March 19 the US President Donald Trump issued a trading ban on Venezuela’s Petro cryptocurrency, while some reports say Russia helped the Venezuelan government launch it.
The exchange has refused to list the cryptocurrency as Petro offers “limited utility” and it constitutes an attempt to circumvent legitimate sanctions against the US government. Bitfinex are referring to the March 18th directive from the US government that states that US persons are not eligible to deal with the newly issued Petro in any manner. Moreover, all similar tokens that appear to contravene US sanctions will also be excluded from the platform.
The Petro itself was launched on February 20. It is the world’s first state-issued digital currency. According to the Venezuelan government, its value is tied directly to the nation’s vast oil reserves. Online publication News BTC said that it has already attracted over USD 5 billion in pre-sale investments and those wishing to obtain PTR tokens can pay for them using Chinese Yuan, Turkish Lira, Euros, Russian Roubles, as well as Bitcoin, Ether, or Litecoin. There are also plans to open domestic and international exchanges soon.
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