The Venezuelan government has approved a new tax bill aiming to collect up to 20% in taxes from cryptocurrency transactions, according to local reports. Venezuela’s National Assembly held the second discussion session on Thursday for a new draft bill targeting taxes on “large financial transactions” in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC). The Venezuelan government reportedly approved the draft bill last Thursday, requiring local firms and individuals to pay up to 20% for operations carried out in cryptocurrencies as well as foreign currencies like the U.S. dollar. Filed on Jan. 20, the draft law aims to collect from 2% to 20% over …

According to an investigative report from RunRun.es, Venezuela intends to increase its use of Bitcoin to pay for imports to bypass financial sanctions imposed by the United States. RunRun.es, which was founded by Venezuelan investigative journalist Nelson Bocaranda, cited anonymous sources from the country’s central bank who claim that “payments to companies from allied countries such as Iran and Turkey have been made using Bitcoin.” It is unclear, what these imports consist of, however, Turkey and Iran currently provide the country food and fuel in exchange for gold. Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro's government has promoted its state-issued, purportedly oil-backed ‘Petro’ …

The regime of Nicolás Maduro continues to lean on crypto to keep economically solvent. Via Instagram, an engineering brigade of the Venezuelan army inaugurated the new "Digital Assets Production Center of the Bolivarian Army of Venezuela." As the video shows, the center houses various ASIC mining equipment used to crack proof-of-work algorithms. General Lenin Herrera presented the new mining operation. The stated goal of the mining operation is "strengthening and self-sustainability of our units of the Bolivarian Army," adding later that these mining centers would be generating "unblockable sources of income" and an alternative to the "trust system blocked and …

Venezuela’s National Securities Superintendency has given the go-ahead for a 90-day pilot of a crypto-powered “decentralized stock exchange” in the country that aims to have a global reach despite international sanctions. Cointelegraph Espanol reports that news of the Decentralized Stock Exchange of Venezuela’s authorization to operate was published in the country’s official gazette, issue 6,578, Sept. 29. The exchange is known as BDVE and its website claims that the platform comprises “the first decentralized stock exchange in the world.” It highlights that users will be able to access the exchange “from anywhere in the world” and “without restrictions.” Both fiat …

The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, says that the country's government is now looking at diverse cryptocurrencies as a potential way of avoiding sanctions. On Sept. 29, Maduro presented a new bill that intends to help the country overcome the impact of United States sanctions. As part of the bill, Venezuela will study the possibility of using various cryptocurrencies in both domestic and foreign trade. Maduro claimed that the new anti-sanctions bill involves both private and state-backed crypto initiatives like Venezuela’s oil-pegged cryptocurrency, the Petro: "The anti-sanctions bill is the first response [...] to give new strength to the use …

Venezuela’s allegedly corrupt leader, Nicolás Maduro, recently lost a court battle involving approximately $1 billion of gold. “The UK High Court has ruled against Venezuela's government in a legal battle over access to $1bn (£820m) of gold stored in the Bank of England,” BBC said in a July 2 article. As a self-sovereign digital asset, Bitcoin lies outside of centralized control. If Maduro stored that value in Bitcoin, he may still have access to those funds. Funds in flux Several months ago U.S. authorities came forward with allegations against Venezuela’s Maduro and 14 of the country’s leaders in March, claiming …

Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver and Venezuela’s sitting president, has announced a campaign to support his country’s medical staff amid the coronavirus pandemic by airdropping one Petro to each doctor. The ‘Doctors of the Homeland’ initiative will see each Venezuelan doctor air-dropped one of the administration’s oil-backed Petro cryptocurrency tokens, as per an April 2 tweet published by a government official. Venezuela to issue Petro bonus to doctors The tokens will be distributed using Venezuela’s ‘Patria System’ — a platform launched by the government to bypass the nation’s failing banking system and issue bonuses and subsidies using the cryptographic …

Several Venezuelan leaders recently came under fire for alleged criminal acts, although, contrary to initial impressions, the situation did not directly involve cryptocurrency usage. “Maduro and his co-defendants are not alleged to have been involved with crypto, directly,” Ashok Ayyar, counsel at Experience Legal, told Cointelegraph. A number of Venezuelan officials, including former president Maduro, faced a slew of charges from U.S. governing bodies, according to a March 26 statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). Despite the press release announcing the charges touting the Homeland Security Investigations’ ability to track cryptocurrency transactions, a close examination of the DoJ’s …

Peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) trading has surged in Venezuela after shutting banks amid a nationwide quarantine to fight the spread of coronavirus. On March 17, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro brought a country-wide quarantine to slow the spread of COVID-19. With only 33 cases of coronavirus confirmed so far, the administration hopes that the emergency measures will prevent its health system from becoming overwhelmed by a rapid increase in infections. Venezuela’s banking sector shut down indefinitely Venezuela’s national banking system has been halted “indefinitely” as part of the sudden quarantine, sparking an increase in P2P cryptocurrency trading. After a three week skid …

Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, announced on Friday the opening of a new crypto-run casino in a battered country where betting halls have all but gone extinct. A casino for relief Maduro said Ávila National Park’s Hotel Humboldt will soon be home to an international casino that will operate with Petro (PTR), Venezuela’s state cryptocurrency, and that proceeds will fund the country’s public health and education sectors. The announcement comes less than a decade after Maduro’s mentor, former president Hugo Chavez, ordered the closure of all betting places as harbors of prostitution, drugs and crime. Since 2011, as the then-relatively-prosperous …

Venezuela will soon sell oil from reserves of a state-run oil and gas company for its national oil-pegged cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR). Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has signed a decree to sell 4.5 million barrels of oil from the certified 30 million-barrel reserve maintained by Petroleum of Venezuela (PDVSA), the state-owned company officially announced on Jan. 14. According to PDVSA, Maduro announced the news in a speech before the Constituent National Assembly — an assembly elected in 2017 to draft a new constitution for Venezuela. Oil sales to be an exploration mechanism Once the initial sale of 4.5 million barrels …

Venezuela plans to back its national oil-pegged cryptocurrency, the Petro (PTR), with 30 million barrels of crude oil. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced that the oil inventories are sitting in the country’s storage tanks and are ready for immediate commercialization to serve as a “liquid, physical, material backing” for the Petro. The president announced the news on Nov. 20 on state television, according to a Reuters report. In the announcement, Maduro called the Petro a “sovereign Venezuelan crypto asset.” Venezuela initially planned to back the Petro with 5 billion barrels of oil While Maduro has not provided any details on …