Venezuela's Cryptocurrency Mining Ban Damages Industry Maduro Once Supported

Jun 22, 2023

By Ruholamin Haqshanas | @ruholamin-haqshanas

Venezuela’s ban on cryptocurrency mining has severely damaged the industry that President Nicolás Maduro once supported. 

Back in March, the state regulators ordered a halt on mining cryptocurrencies after an investigation into a corruption scheme in which crypto wallets redirected payments owed to the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela. 

So far, around 80 people have been arrested in connection to the oil scandal, including former technology minister Hugbel Roa and Joselit Ramírez, who managed the crypto superintendence.

However, as the state’s halt on crypto mining approaches its third month, more miners could be forced to sell their rigs and shut down permanently. 

This comes even as Maduro had pushed the use of crypto and specifically the Petro sovereign token, issued by the government, as a tool to bypass sanctions and as an alternative to the Venezuelan bolivar.

“It is unfortunate that after going through so much trouble to formalize and do things right, we are now in this situation,” Alexis Lugo, who’s been working in digital assets for seven years and now leads an educational crypto project called Criptoneros, told Bloomberg in an interview. 

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