As cryptocurrency prices continue to rise, it appears that the ruling Nicolas Maduro administration in Venezuela has been looking for hope - and has already started paying companies in Turkey and Iran with Bitcoin (BTC), taking advantage of the state's treasury of Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH), as prices continue to rise. Digital currencies.
According to a report by the Spanish publication RunRun.es, "unnamed sources in the Venezuelan Central Bank" stated that "payments to companies from allied countries such as Iran and Turkey were made using Bitcoin."
The country, which has developed its own gold currency, the Petro - backed by banned oil reserves - has found itself in a worsening financial crisis due to a combination of US sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic that has affected the Venezuelan economy.
But Maduro appears to have imposed sanctions on a host of digital business channels in an effort to bypass the sanctions - and if the central bank is supposed to be certified, there is now no shortage of Venezuelan bitcoin buyers in the international community.
The same sources stated that President Maduro is benefiting from the recently passed Anti-Siege Act, legislation that allows the Venezuelan Executive to authorize the “creation and implementation of any kind of financial mechanism” for payments, including “digital assets” and currencies based on blockchain technology.
Earlier this year, Tariq Al-Aissami, Venezuela's Vice President and Economy Minister, announced that the country would start creating a system of agricultural subsidies and loans backed by a "basket" of digital assets including the petro and other more well-known international currencies.