Social benefit payments to be based on Crypto in Venezuela
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says the government has approved using the Petro cryptocurrency as the basis for calculating social benefit payments, in order to tackle inflation.
In early March, the Central Bank of Venezuela said it would introduce three new banknotes – 200k, 500k, and 1 million bolivars – amid the hyperinflation.
Last year's inflation in the country amounted to 2,959.8 percent.
"I can announce today a proposal that I have approved … which is to ‘Petrolize' the social benefits of public workers of the central, the decentralized administration and of the state public companies," Maduro said on Saturday, during a televised speech dedicated to International Worker's Day, Sputnik reported.
Maduro emphasized that the measure aims to protect social benefits from inflation and also proposed that pensions be calculated based on the Petro, the value of which depends on the cost of oil, gold, iron, and diamonds.
