Petro crypto is illegal: Declares Venezuelan lawmakers

The recently launched Venezuelan crypto token, Petro has been declared as an illegal currency in the country by the two opposing lawmaking bodies. The Venezuelan President, Nicholas Maduro spearheaded the Petro token; read more here for details. The cryptocurrency was launched through an Initial Coin offering like all the other cryptos in the market.

The opposing politicians have announced that they are not in support of the oil-backed cryptocurrency citing that it is illegal and unconstitutional under Venezuelan domestic law. They have termed the project as a fraud and poses high risks for the investors. Through a statement, the lawmakers lashed out against the token sale for the cryptocurrency project. It collected over $735 million on the first day; however, the politicians say that it is just but one more political crisis in the country.

The lawmakers added that it is a project launched by the government to embezzle money from unsuspecting citizens. On the contrary, the competitive legislature formed by the President is in full support of the token. In another statement by the chair of economic finance commission Rafael Guzman, who is in charge of the budget, public credit, monetary and exchange policies said:

"This deepens the crisis that we are living in. The PTR is another [example] of corruption, and we will come out of this crisis with measures that we have announced from this Parliament."

The citizens are also divided on the matter of having a nationally issued cryptocurrency. The fact that President Maduro himself backs it does little to clear the doubts.