First Presidential Cryptocurrency Order Blocks Venezuela’s Petro
Monday, March 19, 2018, President Trump issued the first presidential cryptocurrency order showing that this administration won’t allow cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions. According to Time magazine, Russia played a key role in helping Venezuela to launch the Petro coin and ICO to help the country avoid US economic sanctions.
The Executive Order is in response to recent actions taken by the Maduro regime to attempt to circumvent U.S. sanctions by issuing a digital currency, the Petro. The order prohibits:
“All transactions related to, provision of financing for, and other dealings in, by a United States person or within the United States, any digital currency, digital coin, or digital token, that was issued by, for, or on behalf of the Government of Venezuela on or after January 9, 2018, are prohibited as of the effective date of this order.”
It is not exactly clear how the administration will enforce this order. It requires United States Government agencies to take all appropriate measures to carry it out. It also requires financial institutions, including cryptocurrencyA cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset des... More exchanges and hedge funds to ensure that US citizens and US countries are not holding crypto Petro currency. Similarly, individuals are not permitted to purchase the Petro cryptocurrency. The EO authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, to make rules and regulations to enforce this order.
First Presidential Cryptocurrency Order Blocks Russia Sanction Evasion Experiment
This is a fascinating time, when the President of the United States is signing cryptocurrency executive orders to enforce global sanctions. The evidence that Russia colluded with Venezuela to design and launch this currency is particularly intriguing, as is the clear possibility that the DPRK and other regimes could be doing the same thing.