It is evident the Venezuelan Petro is a pretty intriguing currency. Although it seems legitimate in the eyes of President Maduro, the rest of the world is still not too convinced. Bitfinex has taken an interesting stance on the Petro. As of right now, the company has no plans to support PTR trading, which is a clear stance.
To put this into perspective, the Petro is a cryptocurrency first and foremost. Although it is centrally controlled, it apparently resides on a blockchain. Whether or not it will ever be a useful currency, remains to be determined at this point. As such, cryptocurrency exchanges have to determine whether or not they want to deal with the PTR currency or not. Some people would expect to see the Petro get listed on prominent cryptocurrency exchanges sooner rather than later.
Bitfinex Doesn’t Want to Deal With the Petro
That may not happen anytime soon, though. First of all, the Petro poses a major risk as a currency itself. Considering how the asset can be used to circumvent sanctions, it is a very dubious form of value. While it is backed by Venezuela’s oil reserves, the real value of the currency has yet to be determined at this point. As such, it doesn’t make sense for companies such as Bitfinex to list this currency.
Based on the company’s statement, Bitfinex will not list the Petro currency whatsoever. The US has prohibited its citizens from transactions related to the Petro, which means Bitfinex doesn’t have much of a choice in this regard. This makes it very difficult to attribute any further value to the Petro, but that is not something the exchange needs to be worried about.
All of this shows all cryptocurrency exchanges have to make a similar decision moving forward. The Petro is a problematic currency in many different ways. As of right now, it seems rather unlikely any exchange will deal with the Petro moving forward. There is no reason to and there is no demand for it either at this stage. Even so, things can still change. It is good to know Bitfinex will not get involved in this hornet’s nest, though.
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