Venezuela to Fund Housing for Homeless With National Cryptocurrency Petro

Published at: July 6, 2018

The Venezuelan Minister of Habitat and Housing Ildemaro Villarroel has announced that the country’s government is planning to fund the construction of houses for the homeless with the national cryptocurrency Petro, Criptotendencia reports Thursday, June 5.

The government will fund a project called the “Great Mission for Venezuela Housing (GMVV),” which aims to make quality housing more accessible to the homeless. According to the GMVV website, the government has finished more than 2 million houses to date.

Villaroel said that 33 companies so far have started technical, financial, and logistics tests to start the construction process, adding:

"Together with the governors, we are reviewing the plans that we will begin in the second quarter, in this second quarter GMVV will have an injection of financial resources, which this year will be protected and established with [the] Petro."

Another official cited by Criptotendencia said that the Petro creates a “protective shield” for house construction. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro authorized a budget of 75 billion bolivars (approximately $750,000) and 909,000 Petros for the new homes.

This is not the first government social initiative in Venezuela funded by the national oil-based cryptocurrency Petro. In May Maduro announced the launch of a Petro-funded crypto bank to support youth and students initiatives.

While the Venezuelan political and economical crisis has deepened in recent years, with inflation of the bolivar surpassing 25,000 percent, Venezuela has seen a boom in cryptocurrencies. As Cointelegraph reported earlier in June, Bitcoin trading has increased significantly this year. The volume of Venezuelan bolivar to Bitcoin exchange increased by 138% from March to April, and by 39% more from April to May.

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