04 February, 2020 | AtoZ Markets – According to the Venezuelan media platform Tal Cual, the country's merchants have abandoned Petro as a payment method. According to reports, merchants who sought to liquidate their petro holdings at the Bank of Venezuela received devalued Bolivar amounts. Merchants who accept Petro's payment risk being unable to replenish their stocks due to massive hyperinflation in the country.
Merchants in Venezuela Refuses to Accept Payments in Petro
The Bolivar lost nearly 99% of its value in 2019 alone. So, Merchants want their Petro deposit liquidated for the equivalent of "pennies on the dollar".
Retail merchants in Venezuela refuse to accept Petro payments. Hyperinflation is causing a massive devaluation when the crypto is liquidated with the banks. Meantime, the country's government has reintroduced price control inspectors as part of efforts to put pressure on stores to accept state-issued digital currency.
Marcos Álvarez, secretary-general of the Association of Banking Workers' Unions of the Carabobo State said:
Many traders have decided to return the biopayment equipment to the banks. However, the presidency administration orders its two state-owned banks Venezuela and Bicentenario to refuse the return of the devices. Since its installation, users and merchants were already angry with biopayment.
Cipriana Ramos, former president of Consecomercio said, the over 7,000 companies that accepted Petros payments have been hit hard by the delays in liquidation. "The company that sold an asset or provided service is receiving devalued bolivars. However, there are merchants who have not yet received payment."
According to the Bank of Venezuela, between December 18, 2019, and January 3, 2020, 2,585,755 operations recorded through BiopagoBDV. And 1,233,093 people who carried out transactions with the Petros.
"Inflation does not wait for maintenance. There is not a single merchant that accepts Petros," said Octavio Páez Malavé, a merchant from the state of Bolivar on January 10. Many others denounced from the last days of December 2019, when the biological payment system started an important maintenance process.
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Is Venezuela Petro Cryptocurrency a Scam?
According to a local report, Maria Carolina Uzcategui, former president of Consecomercio, went so far as to claim that "cryptocurrency is a scam. Furthermore, Petro is a scam for merchants because what could be done at the beginning of the year with the currency cannot be done now".
Venezuelan merchants and the government may soon clash over Petro's acceptance with the Maduro administration which reintroduces the "price police". According to the Wall Street Journal, the government is commissioning a team of inspectors to enforce price controls across the country.
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