Venezuelans Now Can Pay for Petrol in Fiat or (State-issued) Crypto

The Venezuelan government has announced that drivers can now fill their gas tanks with fuel – and pay using foreign currencies or the state-issued cryptoasset the petro (PTR).

Caracas made its announcement over the weekend, and the measure became effective as of June 1, per a tweet from state-owned television station VTV Canal 8,

The tweet featured a video of the nation’s vice president and financial chief Tareck El Aissami, who explained that an initial 200 service stations across the nation would make use of the project. The plan will see gas stations charge customers USD 0.50 per liter of fuel – allowing them to use PTR holdings, dollars, euros and other major fiats.

International petrol importers and gas station operators are also entitled to make use of the new system, provided they register with the government beforehand.

Per El Pitazo, Caracas will look to expand the number of gas stations making use of the new system, with 1,500 vendors becoming eligible.

El Aissami stated that new point-of-sale devices would be distributed at participating gas stations, adding that these would be compatible with the Patria platform – a remittance network that allows Venezuelans to receive major cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin (BTC), from overseas. Caracas has attempted to link its petro network to Patria, although it is unclear how much success it has had doing so, with the petro recently taken offline for “maintenance.”

El Aissami concluded by stating,

“The time for the petro is now.”