Venezuelans, who got state crypto coins as a result of free distribution, now trade it on LocalBitcoins for half the official rate.
The authorities of Venezuela lately carried a free distribution of Petro coins, as a result of which each citizen received 0.5 Petro. The authorities insist that the cost of crypto is $ 60 per coin, however, the asset is sold at LocalBitcoins at a rate near to half this figure.
A post at Reddit has revealed that Venezuelans have chosen LocalBitcoins to market their coins. The giveaway was held last December and as a result, nearly 6 million people received 0.5 Petro each. Initially, authorities permitted the use of these Petro coins to purchase goods using the Biopago application, but soon this option was closed due to high demand.
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Therefore, people turned to the only remaining option for trading coins - the OTC trading platform LocalBitcoins. There were many offers on the platform according to which it was possible to exchange Petro coins for BTC or other assets. However, the proposed price was not $60, but $30.
As the flow of people who want to trade their Petros is enormous, some shops and individuals are not able to support this volume. That's why Venezuelans have opened a channel on Telegram, where they're trying to find people who would like to buy their coins.
Petro is an oil-backed crypto coin managed by the Venezuelan state administration, which was intended to help Venezuelans overcome Trump's sanctions.