# Government launches its own cryptocurrency



## Brendan Burgess (25 Feb 2018)

Venezuela has launched which is backed by its oil reserves.

_The Petro would be based on the blockchain opensource technology the same principle used by Bitcoin, Ethereum, Kodakcoin, and more than one thousand other new coins which have flooded the market since the invention of Bitcoin

*Backed Up by Real Oil*


At 00:30 hours February 21, Venezuela officially started the presale of the Petro, offering 100.000.000 Petros at $60 each, the actual price of Venezuelan oil barrels. During the first 20 hours, there were confirmed buying initiatives for near $735.000 million, mostly from the Far East.


Venezuela hopes that the Petro will allow the Government to dodge the US and EU economic sanctions, which impede the payment of much-needed food, spare parts, and medicines._


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## Brendan Burgess (25 Feb 2018)

I don't follow the format of the numbers. Is this what happened? 

They have launched $6 billion worth. 

And they quickly had subscribers for $735 million worth - almost $1 billion.


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## Duke of Marmalade (25 Feb 2018)

This link makes the numbers clearer and you have it right.


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## Brendan Burgess (25 Feb 2018)

Good link Duke

_Any rational investor would probably steer well clear of the 100m Petro made available.
_
So the Bitcoin community will go for it with gusto.

Brendan


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## tecate (25 Feb 2018)

Brendan Burgess said:


> _Any rational investor would probably steer well clear of the 100m Petro made available._
> ...So the Bitcoin community will go for it with gusto.


I wouldn't - and I don't think anyone who developed an interest in Bitcoin / Crypto earlier will. First of all, it's centralised.  A centralised blockchain completely defeats the purpose.
Added to this, It's being driven by Nicolas Maduro and his cronies - who have robbed their own people blind and continue to do exactly that.  Ask all the Venezuelans forced to leave the country, scattered all over South and Central America.  They're just trying to circumvent sanctions - nothing else.

However, perhaps there's a sub-set who will - those that seem to have a unit price bias and buy crypto's based on lower unit price and just as a result of fear of having missed out - without any proper consideration of whether they actually offer any technological advancement.

On the plus side, it will be an interesting experiment for people in the crypto space to watch and see how it all pans out.


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## jman0war (26 Feb 2018)

Brendan Burgess said:


> Good link Duke
> 
> _Any rational investor would probably steer well clear of the 100m Petro made available.
> _
> ...


The Bitcoin community is resolutely opposed to things like central banks and centralized powers that control money.
So there's really nothing for them in this fiasco.


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## TheBigShort (26 Feb 2018)

tecate said:


> I wouldn't - and I don't think anyone who developed an interest in Bitcoin / Crypto earlier will. First of all, it's centralised.





jman0war said:


> The Bitcoin community is resolutely opposed to things like central banks and centralized powers that control money.



Despite best efforts of yourselves and others to explain the concept of bitcoin and crypto, it is now patently clear that either they are incapable of understanding the concept or completely unwilling to do so. 

_Decentralization _is at the heart of the bitcoin concept. Think before you post!


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## Duke of Marmalade (26 Feb 2018)

Brendan Burgess said:


> Good link Duke
> 
> _Any rational investor would probably steer well clear of the 100m Petro made available.
> _
> ...


_Boss _did you not realise that the Bitcoin Community don't do humour


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## MrEarl (26 Feb 2018)

Hello,

I found the title of this thread a little misleading, as when I saw it I thought - the Irish Government have launched a crypto ?

Agree with the points that have been made above as to why most crypto investors wouldn't touch it.

On a more general basis, I don't think I'd touch Venezuela with a barge pole tbh.



Duke of Marmalade said:


> _Boss _did you not realise that the Bitcoin Community don't do humour



Very harsh


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## Brendan Burgess (26 Feb 2018)

Duke of Marmalade said:


> _Boss _did you not realise that the Bitcoin Community don't do humour



I hadn't.  But that makes it even funnier. 

Brendan


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## Duke of Marmalade (26 Feb 2018)

I fully agree with the Bitcoin Community.  The Petro is nothing more than Venezuelan debt.  About the worst possible investment one could imagine. 

And yet over $700m sold in one day.  It seems that the mere whiff that it is in some way based on blockchain technology is enough to provoke a rash of irrational buying.  This underpins the consensus that, in general, current crypto prices are in a bubble fueled by amongst other things a speculation that blockchain is the next internet.


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## tecate (26 Feb 2018)

Duke of Marmalade said:


> And yet over $700m sold in one day.


Are the buyers retail investors or just stakeholders in the sanctions circumvention?


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## TheBigShort (26 Feb 2018)

Duke of Marmalade said:


> It seems that the mere whiff that it is in some way based on blockchain technology is enough to provoke a rash of irrational buying. This underpins the consensus that, in general, current crypto prices are in a bubble fueled by amongst other things a speculation that blockchain is the next internet.



On the face of it, it does seem odd. I also consider it odd that these vulture funds are buying up the debt of non-performing loans for sums apparently worth in the $bn's.
I have to say, I don't know how the whole thing works, but there does seem to be an insatiable appetite for crap in many, many markets around the world.


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## jman0war (26 Feb 2018)

tecate said:


> Are the buyers retail investors or just stakeholders in the sanctions circumvention?


I would guess that it's more like robo funds that are performing keyword searches such as "blockchain", then allocates a % of it's fund toward that project.


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## tecate (26 Feb 2018)

jman0war said:


> I would guess that it's more like robo funds that are performing keyword searches such as "blockchain", then allocates a % of it's fund toward that project.


I can't say for sure but I'd imagine that the bulk of it has been bought by stakeholders.  Anyone who wants to trade with Venezuela will go through this route if it makes the trade possible...and no doubt they will do so with favourable terms given Venezuela's predicament.


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