Venezuela’s Central Bank Considers the Potential of Bitcoin and Ethereum
Drishti Bhagat Sep 27, 2019 07:30
In the face of global isolation from international financial systems and imposed US sanctions on state-run PSDV (Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.) , Venezuelan’s Central Bank is looking to explore Bitcoin and Ethereum payment systems.
Anonymous sources have offered direct insights into the Venezuelan’s Central Bank’s consideration of adopting Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) payment systems.
According to an article by Bloomberg, the central bank of Venezuela is open to potentially storing cryptocurrencies. At the heart of the issue is the difficulty experienced in receiving payments from international clients to state-run and oil gas company: Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PSDV). Adding to the transactional difficulties are the US imposed sanctions against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s current regime.
Several other sources have also said that PSDV will implement transfers of Bitcoin and Ethereum to the Venezuelan central bank and then have the central institution repay suppliers in these cryptocurrencies.
For the Venezuelan economy, tackling isolation from the global financial systems remains the biggest issue. As a result, Venezuela’s Central Bank is running internal tests to determine whether it can hold cryptocurrencies in its coffers that would equal the country’s international reserves, which are valued at a 30-year low of $7.9 billion.
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