National Oil Company pensioners receive 2 Petros as a gift in Venezuela –

Since 2018, pensioners of Venezuela's state oil company, PDVSA, have been receiving a Christmas bonus in Petros (PTR), the first national cryptocurrency that was launched back in 2018. The Petro, backed by Venezuelan oil and other resources, can be traded on local exchanges to give these retirees access to fiat currency, as the currency's reach as a medium of exchange is still limited, according to local reports.

Venezuelan pensioners get 2 Petros for Christmas

A group of Venezuelan retirees belonging to the state oil company PDVSA will receive a bonus paid in Petro (PTR), Venezuela's national cryptocurrency, launched back in 2018. The pensioners will receive this bonus as a Christmas gift through the Motherland platform, where they can manage the two Petro (worth about $120) deposited on December 23rd.

The pensioners who are scheduled to receive this bonus will be notified through the platform so that they can draw their two PTRs from it. Although the Petro is very active in national exchanges, its reach as a medium of exchange is currently very limited, as many retirees have indicated that they intend to exchange it to purchase goods and pay for services.

The history and price movements of Petro

Launched in 2018, the Petro was the first government-backed cryptocurrency network, years before El Salvador adopted Bitcoin ( BTC ) as legal tender. Initially, the Petro was supposed to maintain a stable price of $60, supported by a basket of oil and other resources available in Venezuela. However, the market did not take this very well and traded at a fraction of the intended price due to the currency's limited utility.

This trend recently reversed when Petro reached record prices on national exchanges. The local cryptocurrency portal Morocco stated that the crypto asset was trading for more than $50 on some exchanges, reaching $56 in some cases. This is not the first time that the Venezuelan government has used the Petro to give bonuses to Venezuelan citizens in December.

In fact, the government did the same thing two years ago in 2019. give half a petroleum unit ($30) to all pensioners and government employees as a Christmas gift. On this occasion, the government distributed payments in Petros through the POS systems of state-owned banks so that workers could use them more easily and merchants could automatically convert the Petros into fiat currency.

What do you think about paying pensioners in Venezuela with the Petro? Tell us in the comments section below.

Sergio Goshenko

Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. He describes himself as late to the game, entering the cryptosphere when the price surge occurred in December 2017. With a background in computer engineering, living in Venezuela and affected by the cryptocurrency boom on a social level, he offers a different perspective on crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.

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