Venezuela Escalates Its BTC Payments For Turkey And Iran-Based Imports

RunRun.es gave out an investigative report, showing that Venezuela, currently under US sanctions, is redoubling its usage of Bitcoin in order to pay for imports. Through doing so, the country is attempting to bypass US-based sanctions imposed on it.

Buying With BTC On A Government Level

RunRun.es itself was founded by one Nelson Bocaranda, an investigative journalist from Venezuela. Bocaranda cited anonymous sources from within the central bank of the country, claiming that Bitcoin had been used to pay companies from Turkey and Iran, countries allied to Venezuela.

As it stands now, it isn’t entirely clear what these imports bought are, but it’s no secret that both Iran and Turkey provide Venezuela fuel and food in exchange for gold.

Sanctions Aren’t What They Used To Be

Nicolás Maduro stands as the current President of Venezuela, and his government has long been promoting the Petro cryptocurrency. Petro itself is claimed to be backed by oil reserves, and is issued by the state itself, which makes it, amusingly enough, the world’s first fully launched CBDC, beating even China.

Petro has been promoted as a means of exchange both within and without the country since its launch back in 2018. However, things didn’t go as planned, and the Petro coin had faced very poor adoption. As a result, the country’s regime was forced to adapt, exploring the viability of other cryptocurrencies, Ethereum and Bitcoin, most notably.

Maduro himself had been publicly advocating the use of cryptocurrencies to bypass sanctions since back in September. Back then, Maduro stated that his administration would use all of the world’s cryptocurrencies, be it state, public, or private, in order to facilitate both external and internal trade.

A Country Going All In For Crypto

It was on the 8th of October, 2020, when the National Assembly of Venezuela passed the Anti-Blockade Law. This law saw the administration be granted even more executive powers in a bid to bypass the sanctions leveled against the countries. Of these measures, the most prominent one is the ability to authorize the use or even creation of cryptocurrencies to use as a monetary instrument within the country.

One of these measures from the Venezuelan government was the establishment of its “Digital Assets Production Center.” This Center was established in November, and stands as a Bitcoin mining warehouse, making it clear that the country’s reliance on cryptocurrencies is increasing by the day.

It was just last week when the country even launched its own crypto exchange, which was backed by the National Cryptoactive Superintendency. This exchange allowed its citizens to exchange Bolivars for Bitcoin.