The Petro (PTR), a crypto asset created by the Venezuelan authorities, has reappeared in one of many new licenses issued by america, designating it as an unauthorized fee technique for transactions of products and different providers.
That is Basic License 48 issued by the U.S. Division of the Treasury’s Workplace of Overseas Belongings Management (OFAC). The transfer would raise a ban on transactions between the Venezuelan authorities, state-run Petroleos de Venezuela (SA) and associated entities in trade for “expertise, software program, or providers for the exploration, growth, or manufacturing of oil and fuel.”
Based on the phrases of the license, america seeks to shut any channels that enable Venezuela to function exterior its radar. Authorised transactions embody fee processinggroup of delivery and logistics providers, acquiring marine insurance coverage and safety and indemnity, and group of port and terminal providers.
they’re additionally licensed Transactions for the upkeep of oil or fuel operations in Venezuela. The license states that it “contains the restore and restore of things utilized in oil and fuel exploration, growth, and manufacturing actions,” and prohibits negotiations with Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, and North Korea.
Nevertheless, the license specifies that these transactions require “commercially cheap fee phrases.” Subsequently, trade of debt and fee in gold is prohibited. It additionally contains “funds in digital currencies or tokens issued by, for, or on behalf of the Venezuelan authorities, together with the Petro.”
With this clarification, america will forestall Venezuelan crypto belongings, created by the federal government in 2018, from being utilized in any approach for oil operations. On this approach, they spotlight their rejection of the venture, which was permitted in March of the identical yr beneath the primary administration of Donald Trump, as reported by CriptoNoticias.
Nonetheless, The brand new license says nothing particular about different cryptocurrencies. or digital belongings. That is contemplating that PDVSA has been utilizing USD Tether (USDT) for a lot of the final yr for its oil operations. This issue would have accelerated U.S. motion, because the intention is to restrict Venezuelan negotiations to obtainable channels.
The Petro was created with the intention of combating inflation and merging cryptocurrencies with the nation’s pure reserves. partially inactivethough not excluded. It’s nonetheless used immediately as a unit of calculation for some charges and duties.
In January 2024, the federal government liquidated the cryptocurrencies and PTR holdings within the PetroApp pockets and terminated the venture. Based on them, It was about specializing in the belongings themselves.
Regardless of this announcement, there have been no latest developments or bulletins relating to Petro. Certainly, the primary regulator and promoter of the PTR, the Nationwide Regulatory Authority for Cryptoassets and Associated Actions (Sunacrip), We’re nonetheless within the restructuring interval.

