Venezuela will incorporate Bitcoin and Litecoin wallets into the domestic remittances platform

Venezuela says it will incorporate bitcoin and litecoin wallets into Patria’s cryptocurrency remittance platform. In an update, the country’s authorities say this move will allow Venezuelan citizens to formally receive remittances in the form of cryptocurrency. Many Venezuela-affected hyperinflation citizens already use bitcoin as a store of value and for cross-border payments.

Bitcoin-Petro trading pair addition plans

Formal incorporation of bitcoin into the national remittance system will likely increase Venezuelans’ use of cryptocurrencies. The country already ranks third in the list of countries with the highest use of cryptocurrency in the world.

Meanwhile, this announcement posted via the Patria blog, is a continuation of a pattern of crypto policy amendments made by the Maduro government as it seeks to counter the effects of US sanctions.

In an update released on October 28, the Caracas government – which still hopes to see the widespread embrace of its failed petro token – also talks about the “incorporation of petro. [and] bitcoin and petro [and] litecoin pairs into an exchange system. ”However, the update has no details on this exchange system or when the planned incorporation is expected.

Meanwhile, the update also reveals the plan to introduce “exchange and remittance fees and commissions”. Maduro’s government is planning what it calls “the implementation of a service fee for all transactions made in the Petro, Bitcoin and Litecoin portfolios.”

Phased introduction

While the update does not provide the finest details, it does clarify that some of these features will be introduced in stages. The roughly translated Spanish language update says:

In the few days following this update, some of these features will only be available to a select number of users for the purpose of testing the changes. The Patria platform will gradually incorporate all these and other services, which due to their extension will require several days of updating and monitoring.

Despite accusations by the US government of using bitcoin to evade sanctions, authorities in Venezuela now seem more determined to embrace the most important cryptocurrency than before. The government recently announced formal recognition and approval of cryptocurrency mining.

However, just like the latest update, Caracas is setting conditions that could work against the greater goal of increasing the use and adoption of decentralized and censorship-resistant cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

It remains to be seen whether members of the Venezuelan expat community will accept the proposed incorporation of bitcoin into the remittance system.

Do you think incorporating bitcoin into Venezuela’s national remittance system will help Caracas? Share your views in the comments section below.

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