Venezuelan president claims Petro cryptocurrency pre-sale raises $5 billion

Tuesday, March 13, 2018 3:12 AM UTC

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has announced that the pre-sale of Petro cryptocurrency has raised $5 billion.

El arte de la política revolucionaria es mantener el equilibrio en cualquier circunstancia y saber avanzar. El precio del petróleo está estable y el Petro ha pegado duro. En la preventa del Petro ya tenemos 5 mil millones de dólares, vamos rumbo a la prosperidad.
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) March 11, 2018

The pre-sale kicked off on February 20, 2018. According to Telesur, over 186,000 investors participated in the pre-sale.
Previosuly, the president had claimed that the pre-sale raised $735 million in the first day itself.

“Tenemos más de 5 mil millones de dólares en las manos, en apenas un mes de la preventa del Petro, el cual es parte del camino de las soluciones económicas de aquí y hasta el futuro “, subrayó el Pdte @NicolasMaduro pic.twitter.com/znW8BrHLle
— Prensa Presidencial (@PresidencialVen) March 9, 2018

The announcement comes just after Asamblea Nacional, a Venezuelan lawmaking body, declared that the issuance of petro cryptocurrency is “unconstitutional” recently.

However, despite these opposition to Petro, Maduro has been marching ahead in his cryptocurrency plans.

Speaking at an event in New Delhi, India on Sunday, Venezuelan Chancellor Jorge Arreaza stressed that Venezuela will support solar energy projects through El Petro. He said:

“The Venezuelan cryptocurrency, the Petro, will be the mechanism by which solar energy projects will be financed through Petrocaribe, and that will have all the capabilities of the joint ventures of the international organization, Petrocaribe Solar, which will be for all of Latin America and the Caribbean.”

#ANUNCIO | @jaarreaza señala que a través de Petrocaribe el Pdte. @NicolasMaduro realizó una iniciativa de financiamiento a través del Petro para incentivar proyectos que impulsen la energía solar. "La iniciativa Petrocaribe Solar contará con la logística de Petrocaribe” pic.twitter.com/6LEBvpV844
— Cancillería ???????? (@CancilleriaVE) March 11, 2018

En Cumbre de la Alianza Solar Internacional, el Canciller @jaarreaza anuncia que el Pdte @NicolasMaduro lanza Iniciativa de financiamiento de proyectos para la energía solar, a través del petro. Contará con toda la logística y capacidades de Petrocaribe #PetroCaribeSolar pic.twitter.com/C0UZTD1i2d
— Cancillería ???????? (@CancilleriaVE) March 11, 2018