Is Venezuela Shutting Down All Its Crypto Platforms?

The relationship between Venezuela and crypto has always been a bit wonky, and this month is no exception. The arrest of the nation’s superintendent of crypto assets Joselit Ramirez has caused a huge uproar in the nation, and President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the region to completely upend its digital currency regulatory agency.

Venezuela Is Acting Fishy Regarding Crypto

Right now, it is widely rumored that all the crypto exchanges that have been established in Venezuela are scheduled to be closed down permanently. The order was reportedly given by Sunacrip, the country’s official crypto regulatory body, and while nothing has been confirmed yet, the National Association of Cryptocurrencies has hinted that such action is indeed occurring within the borders of Venezuela as part of an ongoing anti-corruption case.

Asonacrip president Jose Angel Alvarez explained in a recent interview:

We believe that private companies should not be blamed for what is happening inside the regulatory body and that we should promote the full activation of all cryptocurrency operations (in the country). We are preparing a list of propositions to be delivered soon to Sunacrip and Dr. Anabel Pereira.

The idea that Venezuela – a long-time socialist country – would suddenly be working towards “anti-corruption” is a bit of a laugh. In addition, it’s odd that the nation is suddenly so anti-crypto given its history with the Petro, an oil-backed digital asset that the country worked very hard to market, promote, and sell about four to five years ago. Several lies are alleged to have swirled around the digital asset, and it’s unclear, exactly, how many units were sold, bought, or traded when it was at its peak.

Alvarez went on to say that a week prior to the investigation’s start, all crypto mining farms in regions such as Carabobo were told they had to cease their operations. He said:

Indeed, at the beginning of the week in the state of Carabobo, all the farms were ordered to stop, which concerns us as a community since some affiliates are being affected by the measure.

He was highly confused and concerned by this as he believes many of the mining facilities in the country had obtained the required permits and were fully compliant with present Venezuelan laws:

We believe that although there is a situation in the superintendency, it should not affect the operations of all affiliated farms at the regional level.

Is All This Even Real?

By contrast, Eleazar Colmenares – the CEO of Crypto Buyer in Venezuela – has unleashed a statement claiming Sunacrip hasn’t ordered the closure of any crypto exchanges, so it’s hard to know who’s telling the truth. He said:

We want to clarify that the announcement made yesterday on our social media refers to the temporary non-operation of our crypto-fiat gateway service due to the transition process carried out by the competent authorities.

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