Maduro Says Venezuela to Activate Crypto Payment Method ‘Soon’

(Bloomberg) -- Venezuela’s government is using cryptocurrencies as a “method for free national and international payments,” President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised press conference.

“The finance minister and Venezuela’s central bank have new instruments which we will activate very soon so that everyone can do banking transactions, as well as national and international payments through the central bank’s accounts,” Maduro said Monday. “Venezuela is working within the cryptocurrency world.”

Venezuela’s central bank is running internal tests to determine whether it can hold cryptocurrencies in its reserves, Bloomberg reported last week. The efforts come at the request of state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, which is seeking to send Bitcoin and Ethereum to the central bank and have the monetary authority pay the oil company’s suppliers with the tokens, four people with knowledge of the matter have said.

“The regime’s use of cryptocurrency shows desperation,” the opposition’s Juan Guaido, who is recognized by more than 50 countries as the rightful leader, said in an earlier press conference. “To resort to that kind of subterfuge emphasizes the economic crisis the regime is going through.”

U.S. sanctions have largely isolated Venezuela from the global financial system, contributing to one of world’s most severe economic crises and forcing officials to use a patchwork of methods to move money around. While Maduro’s plans to start the world’s first sovereign crypto largely failed, the continued efforts to use digital currencies shows how desperate the government is to come up with a way to skirt the restrictions.

“Donald Trump and his sanctions are blocking Venezuela from carrying out transaction in any of the world’s banks,” Maduro said. “There’s other formulas to pay, and it’s what we’re using, because our payment system works perfectly in China and Russia.”

--With assistance from Fabiola Zerpa and Jose Orozco.

To contact the reporters on this story: Patricia Laya in Caracas at playa2@bloomberg.net;Alex Vasquez in Caracas Office at avasquez45@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Cancel at dcancel@bloomberg.net, Brendan Walsh, Rita Nazareth

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