The central bank of Venezuela is currently running testing to find out if it can add bitcoin and ether to its international reserves.
According to a report published by Bloomberg, the country’s state-owned oil and natural gas company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) has asked the central bank to pay some of its supplier on its behalf using the cryptocurrencies.
The process by which PDVSA obtained bitcoin and ether is still unclear. As the country has been under U.S. sanctions it has been struggling to do business with various clients and has been cut off from the global financial system. It is worthy of note that Venezuela has been digging into its reserves while dealing with hyperinflation.
PDVSA is not looking to sell its cryptocurrencies on exchanges as it would have to go through due diligence. It would likely be turned down by most platforms over the sanctions.
Remember that Venezuela now has it’s own state backed cryptocurrency called Petro.