According to Venezuelan Business Union Leader, Petro Is Not a Cryptocurrency
Felipe Capozzolo, from Consecomercio, indicated that Petro does not meet the conditions to be considered a crypto asset. The business union leader believes that the free convertibility of PTR would allow its acceptance in stores.
The president of the National Council of Commerce and Services (Consecomercio) of Venezuela, Felipe Capozzolo, highlighted at a press conference on February 19th that Petro (PTR) cannot be considered to be a cryptocurrency as it does not meet the required characteristics. For that reason, he said that the crypto asset promoted by the Venezuelan government has no solid foundations that could generate confidence in the population.
During the meeting with the media, Capozzolo clearly stated that Petro cannot either be used as an exchange token since the traders that receive it still do not know how to exchange it. He mentioned that there are still business people that have not received the payments for the sales made in Petro last December through the Banco de Venezuela “bio-payment” points of sale.
The president of Consecomercio explained that the main problem generated by the Venezuelan government’s cryptocurrency project Petro is that traders still do not know how to exchange it for either US dollars (USD) or bolivars (VES). Besides, he noted that the procedure has not yet been clearly defined, which has led them to reject payments with Petro until the exchange conditions are properly established.
According to Capozzolo, the national government should provide Petro with the necessary elements that help it generate confidence in the population and traders. For example, the free convertibility of Petro in bolivars or US dollars would allow using it in the best way. However, the business union leader stressed that the current reality of Venezuela is still not ready for that.
Capozzolo’s statements are in the same vein as those made by Consecomercio as a business organization. It should be noted that he complained last November that there is not a consistent and harmonious economic policy behind Petro, which increases the levels of uncertainty and doubt regarding the project.
The same as Consecomercio, leaders of the other business union of Venezuela, the civil association Fedecámaras, have also ruled on Petro and the national government’s intentions to massify its use throughout the country, keeping a distance from the country’s official fiat currency, the bolivar.
Last January, the president of Fedecámaras Carabobo, Jhonatan Aldana, said that the use of Petro as a system was not viable and that it would be detrimental to trade in general and services. A similar point of view was that of Ricardo Cusanno, president of Fedecámaras, who explained in recent weeks that Petro causes further confusion among Venezuelans.
It is worth mentioning that Petro was officially announced by Nicolás Maduro’s socialistic government in December 2017. It was intended as a mechanism to obtain new forms of international financing and circumvent the financial blockade imposed by the United States. However, it has not yet generated the necessary level of confidence among traders and the population, such as other well-known cryptocurrencies worldwide.
By Willmen Blanco