Venezuelan Leader Claims Big Demand for Petro Cryptocurrency

Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro said the government has received more than 171,000 certified purchase orders for the petro, the country's forthcoming cryptocurrency.

In a Twitter post, the country's leader claimed that 40.8 percent of the purchase orders were in U.S. dollars, 6.5 percent were in euros, 18.4 percent were in ethereum and 33.8 percent were in bitcoin.

He further claimed that more than 3,500 companies placed bids for petro tokens. The remaining 82,000 purchasers are individuals, according to Venezuela-based news group teleSUR.

#ANUNCIO “Hasta el día de hoy hemos recibido 171 mil ofertas de intención de compras certificadas para el Petro, 40.8% en $, 6.5% en €, 18.4% en Ethereum , 33.8% en Bitcoin, de las cuales 3523 ofertas son de empresas” manifestó el Pdte. @NicolasMaduro pic.twitter.com/C6SLc4dUZq

— Prensa Presidencial (@PresidencialVen) February 27, 2018

No information was provided as to who the purchasers are, or what certification procedures were followed.

Despite these claims, the Caracas Chronicles pointed out that no petro tokens have yet been distributed to any potential purchasers.

Indeed, a look at the NEM transaction ledger shows that the Venezuelan government’s petro address still has ownership of all 100 million tokens.

Maduro last week claimed that the petro pre-sale, which will continue through the beginning of March, raised $735 million during its first day, as previously reported. However, he has not released any evidence to support this number.

The lack of transfers from the government wallet has not stopped cryptocurrency exchanges from trying to set up shop in the South American nation, however. As previously reported, government documents indicate that eight exchanges may be allowed to set up in the country initially, and some groups have begun efforts to do so.

Editor's Note: Statements in this article were translated from Spanish.

Venezuelan flag image via Shutterstock