Venezuelan Petro prepares for its first Airdrop

The world of alternative cryptocurrencies is always an interesting domain. On the surface, it might seem that altcoins simply follow the action of the bigger cousin’s mainly bitcoin and its price. While this is usually true there is still a fascinating world behind that and one that revolves around something completely different than the usual market forces of the crypto field. Rarely this is related to the technology behind those networks, but more often this uniqueness concerns the way day impact, not just the markets but also their users.

Out of all the cryptocurrencies, big and small, there are still some networks that simply go beyond even those loose standards of the altcoin markets. Petro, the Venezuelan-issued cryptocurrency is likely the best possible example of this notion. Since its inception, this token continues to be a story on its own and one that does not appear to have a final ending anywhere in sight.

This comes in spite of the fact that many, driven by political agendas, one way or the other, forecast a quick and violent end the same cryptocurrency. Even more interestingly this cryptocurrency will have a big new development coming around in just a couple of days. The same event is the first-ever petro airdrop that will take place in the country. This alone and its future potential and ramifications are definitely going to be the past of the cryptocurrency history, for better or worse.

Maduro’s Plan

In recent months, Venezuela was in the news headlines mainly because of the extremely uncertain political situation in the country. The clash between the government of President Maduro and the opposition has been going on for some time and at several points, it reached a practical boiling point. In fact, on more than one occasion it seems that the confrontation between these two forces will become open civil warfare. However, these crises have not materialized in anything that would remove the current president and his government.

Now, with other crises in other Latin American countries filling the headlines, Venezuela has taken a back seat. But, when it comes to the crypto news, it will once again capture those headlines soon enough. The reason for this is the fact that the president plans to give the nation’s cryptocurrency to a range of individuals in the country. These will come from the retirement community, its public sector workers and the military, all of whom are expected to receive petro tokens in just a few days from now. All they need to do is register at the platform that the government will set up for this occasion.

The Big Announcement

Last Friday, Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela announced that the selected groups will receive their free petro. Those individuals will be attaining an airdrop valued at precisely 0.5 petro. Currently, the same amount of this national cryptocurrency equates to around 30 USD. The airdrop is supposed to be a form of holiday bonus that the country will be supplied to its citizens or at least some groups it seems more in need of this financial stimulus than others.

The platform that the citizens need to use is called PetroApp and it also provides the government’s cryptocurrency wallet. It was designed and created back in May 2019. Right now it supports only the same cryptocurrency but it does feature a mobile version. It should allow petro holders to exchange the same token for goods and services or use the app for standard transfers as well.

Wider Crypto Support

One of the most interesting features of the application is the fact that it supports other cryptocurrencies as well. This means that the users can take their token and exchange it for bitcoin, litecoin and even dash, even though they must store it elsewhere. Current in Venezuela, a big proportion of the population is already using bitcoin as a match stabler and more reliable currency than its national alternative.

Yet it is clear that the government will want to encourage individuals to keep on using petro. It has been accessible to the public ever since October 2018. Furthermore, being that the national minimum wage is less than 10 USD per month, offering three times that some will be a big incentive for citizens to sign up for the application and the upcoming airdrop.

Continuing Process of Adoption

The government is clearly set on making sure that petro is adopted on more than one level inside of the nation. Along with the giving out of the tokens to the individual citizens, the government will also give more than 500,000 tokens to the local government and towns across the country. Additionally, the government orders some banks to have petro cryptocurrency on offer.

The same process is being devised for funding for social housing initiative, which will also pay out its aid using this cryptocurrency. This means that both institutions and individuals will gain access to the same currency at the same time. Many ecosystems ranging from small esports competitions to huge multinational companies, tried to do the same and many will keep on trying until they succeed. Venezuela, however, will be able to do this in one short period of time.

Mixed Success

In spite of huge government support, the actual adoption of this cryptocurrency remains shaky. So far, are only about 400 businesses in the country are actually accepting petro payment and this is according to government figures. In reality, this could be an even smaller number. Also so for the members of the opposition, the petro is a no-go option.

This means that right out of the gates a big percentage of the population will simply avoid or reject using it. But having in mind the pressures that this cryptocurrency is under both internally and externally, the very fact that it continues to exist is a success for the Maduro government. This success could be elevated even further if one of the country’s major international allies, like Russia or Iran, decided to further prop up the same payment and money transfer alternative.

Source: CoinDesk