Venezuela is discontinuing the petro cryptocurrency, introduced by President Nicolas Maduro six years ago as a means to circumvent US sanctions.
Despite being launched with grandiosity in February 2018 and backed by Venezuela's extensive petrol reserves, the petro failed to gain traction and became entangled in a ''corruption scandal''.
All crypto wallets on the Patria Platform, the exclusive platform for trading the petro, will be closed on Monday, January 15, as announced on the platform's website.
The remaining petros will be converted to bolivars, the struggling local currency.
Initially priced at US $60 per unit, Petro aimed to provide alternative international financing in the face of economic sanctions imposed by the US.
However, its complexity left citizens perplexed, and it was criticized as a "scam" by certain risk rating agencies.
Efforts to revive the petro in 2020, including mandates for airlines and state services to use it for payments, proved insufficient.
Despite being used for some state operations, such as tax payments and traffic fines, the cryptocurrency did not gain widespread acceptance.
A corruption scandal in 2023, involving mismanagement of funds from oil operations conducted with crypto assets, dealt a severe blow to the petro.
The fallout led to the resignation of the influential petroleum minister Tareck El Aissami and the detention of numerous officials, including the top management of the Sunacrip crypto regulator.
The government's attempt to force banks to present their balances in both bolivars and petros did not salvage the petro's fate.
The Patria Platform, primarily utilized for government subsidies, allowed users to exchange petros for bolivars through an auction system.
"The petro (PTR) is officially dead," declared the private platform CryptoLand Venezuela on social media last week.
The demise of the petro also triggered a government crackdown on bitcoin mining operations, despite the popularity of other cryptocurrencies as a hedge against hyperinflation and bolivar deflation. According to a 2022 survey presented at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 10.3 percent of Venezuelans own crypto, surpassing the ownership rates in the United States (8.3 percent) and Britain (5 percent).
