The Petro (PTR), a crypto asset created by the Venezuelan government, has reappeared in one of the new licenses issued by the United States, designating it as an unauthorized payment method for transactions of goods and other services.
This is General License 48 issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The move would lift a ban on transactions between the Venezuelan government, state-run Petroleos de Venezuela (SA) and related entities in exchange for “technology, software, or services for the exploration, development, or production of oil and gas.”
According to the terms of the license, the United States seeks to close any channels that allow Venezuela to operate outside its radar. Approved transactions include payment processingorganization of shipping and logistics services, obtaining marine insurance and protection and indemnity, and organization of port and terminal services.
they are also licensed Transactions for the maintenance of oil or gas operations in Venezuela. The license states that it “includes the repair and repair of items used in oil and gas exploration, development, and production activities,” and prohibits negotiations with Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea.
However, the license specifies that these transactions require “commercially reasonable payment terms.” Therefore, exchange of debt and payment in gold is prohibited. It also includes “payments in digital currencies or tokens issued by, for, or on behalf of the Venezuelan government, including the Petro.”
With this clarification, the United States will prevent Venezuelan crypto assets, created by the government in 2018, from being used in any way for oil operations. In this way, they highlight their rejection of the project, which was approved in March of the same year under the first administration of Donald Trump, as reported by CriptoNoticias.
Nevertheless, The new license says nothing specific about other cryptocurrencies. or digital assets. This is considering that PDVSA has been using USD Tether (USDT) for much of the last year for its oil operations. This factor would have accelerated U.S. action, as the aim is to limit Venezuelan negotiations to available channels.
The Petro was created with the aim of combating inflation and merging cryptocurrencies with the country’s natural reserves. partially inactivealthough not excluded. It is still used today as a unit of calculation for some fees and duties.
In January 2024, the government liquidated the cryptocurrencies and PTR holdings in the PetroApp wallet and terminated the project. According to them, It was about focusing on the assets themselves.
Despite this announcement, there have been no recent developments or announcements regarding Petro. Indeed, the main regulator and promoter of the PTR, the National Regulatory Authority for Cryptoassets and Related Activities (Sunacrip), We are still in the restructuring period.