[africanboy]

this is quite incorrect.

In Venezuela they haven't banned cryptos, they banned mining, especially if it's done on state funded electricity (for obvious reasons)/and because other cryptos compete with the state backed crypto, the Petro.

Dictators love cryptos, especially bitcoins.

If they didn't, criminals wouldn't use them.

[crazypython]

A currency linked to the price of oil would be a good idea for reducing volatility. That doesn't appear what the Petro is, though.

[africanboy]

that's what they advertise the Petro as

> A total of 100 million Petros will be sold, with an initial value set at $60, based on the price of a barrel of Venezuelan crude in mid-January.

Unfortunately we know that its purpose is raise cash because they can't repay their huge national debt.

Which is why every dictator loves cryptos if they can control them as they control state currencies.

The narrative can be shifted to we are all in this together, we live and die together.

If they'd allow bitcoins for the general population (they love them only for themselves) some would become richer, but the country as a whole would not benefit a bit from it.

And failing at that is something no politician can survive.