On October 29, Venezuelan crypto currency Petro became available to all interested parties for Fiat and major crypto-currencies, but buyers receive a certificate of ownership instead of the crypto currency itself.
Representatives of the Venezuelan government and at least one Chinese delegate made a whole show out of buying Petro, but they were issued a certificate that included a range of personally identifiable information like name, signature and fingerprints. It turned out that for the purchase of cryptocurrency you need to provide all these data, and the certificate of ownership of cryptocurrency does not include a private key.
On the official website of the crypto currency, a block counter is presented, and it practically does not move. According to white paper, block time is 1 minute, and according to the site, 316 blocks were created. Block details and transaction information are not available on the site.
The combination of a disorienting counter and paper ownership certificates suggests that the Venezuelan government is collecting Fiat and cryptocurrencies, offering nothing in return but paper. In fact, the publication notes Bitcoin News, Petro may be a Fiat, which can be printed on a conventional printer, and accordingly it is easier to forge than any other paper currency.
The next step of the Venezuelan government is to open a Deposit program for the population in the national cryptocurrency. Petro Pay will start at the same time as the savings plan. For real crypto-currencies, analysts note, the payment function is not necessary, since the crypto-wallet includes the function of sending and receiving tokens.
Despite all the controversy of Petro and doubts of the crypto community, the Venezuelan government announced that the launch of trading was " successful»:
"This Monday, Petro cryptocurrency trading was successfully launched for all Venezuelan citizens and all those who would like to carry out financial transactions in digital form through this mechanism»
It should come as no surprise if Venezuelans continue to favor bitcoin over questionable paper certificates.