【国际】委内瑞拉石油币，一场彻头彻尾的骗局？

2018 年 9 月 9 日 互联网金融

不久前，委内瑞拉政府发行了一种名叫石油币（Petro）的加密货币。此举一出，便在加密货币业内引发了诸多争论。

一些人认为，这是一个利用加密技术创造以自然资源为支持的资产、绕过金融制裁的成功案例。另一些人则认为，这是一个腐败政府在引发恶性通货膨胀等经济灾难后的另一个骗局。

到底事实真相如何？路透社近日的一次实地探访或许能为我们提供一些思路。

没有人可以使用石油币

近日，路透社发布了一份针对委内瑞拉的特别报告，对其国家石油支持的政府币——石油币Petro——的生存能力提出了严重质疑。在对此事进行了长达四个月的调查之后，路透社无法找到任何Petro币的用户、投资者或者为这种货币提供支持的石油资源。此外，马杜罗政府似乎无法解释Petro发展进程的现状，以及其推动该进程的努力陷入了混乱。

马杜罗总统声明Petro已经带来了33亿美元资金并被积极用于支付进口商品。然而负责监督该国政府的委内瑞拉区块链观测台（Venezuelan Blockchain Observatory）的Hugbel Roa告诉路透社，Petro仍在开发中，“没有人能够使用Petro……也没有任何资源被接收。”他将这种基于新经币（NEM）的交易描述为“早期的模型”，并解释说买家只对Petro进行了“预订”，但Petro还没有被发行。

还差200亿美元

Petro的价格与每桶委内瑞拉石油价格相挂钩，并且以一个名为阿亚库乔（Ayacucho）的380平方公里地区的石油储备作为支撑，委内瑞拉政府声称此地区拥有53亿桶石油。无论这种说法是否属实，要想开采这个地区的石油都需要对基础设施进行大量投资，而现任委内瑞拉政府显然无法实现这一目标。

记者参观了位于该地区的阿塔皮里雷镇，他们只发现了破败的道路、废弃的旧油泵和怨声载道的居民。在前总统查韦斯手下工作了10年，现在流亡国外的前石油部长拉斐尔·拉米雷斯最近估计要花费至少200亿美元才能获得政府承诺的53亿桶石油。拉米雷斯说：“Petro被设定为一个任意的价值，它只存在于政府的想象中。”

英文原文

The petro has stirred up a lot of debate among the cryptocurrency community. Some believe it is a successful example of using the technology to create resource-backed assets and bypassing financial sanctions. Others see it as a scam by a corrupt government that already inflicted economic calamities such as hyperinflation against its own citizens. A new report is unlikely to end this debate but it does help shed light on what is really going on, as reported by Reuters.

Nobody Has Been Able to Make Use of the Petro

The Reuters news agency has issued a special report from Venezuela, casting serious doubts about the viability of its national oil-backed govcoin, the petro. Following a four-month investigation on the ground into the matter, the agency was unable to find any users, investors or readily recoverable resources that back up the currency. Moreover, the Maduro government appears to be unable to explain where the development process stands and its efforts to promote it are in disarray.

In contrast to statements by President Maduro that the petro has already brought in $3.3 billion and is actively being used to pay for imports, a cabinet minister revealed that the coin is not ready for prime-time just yet. Hugbel Roa, which oversees the government’s Venezuelan Blockchain Observatory, told Reuters that the coin is still in development and that “nobody has been able to make use of the petro … nor have any resources been received.” He described the NEM-based transactions as “early models,” and explained that buyers have only made “reservations” for petro, but it has not been released.

$20 Billion Investment Missing

The petro is pegged to the price of one barrel of Venezuelan oil and is supposed to be backed by oil reserves in a 380-square-kilometer bloc known as Ayacucho I which the government claims to hold 5.3 billion barrels. Whether the claim is true or not, huge investments in infrastructure will be needed to develop the remote area to access any oil it may hold and the Venezuelan government is in no position to deliver on that in its current state.

Reporters visited the town of Atapirire, located in the bloc, and only found crumbling roads, abandoned old oil pumps and residents complaining about power outages and hungry kids. And a former oil minister that served for ten years under President Hugo Chavez and now lives in exile, Rafael Ramirez, recently estimated it would cost at least $20 billion to access the promised reserves. “The petro is being set at an arbitrary value, which only exists in the government’s imagination,” Ramirez stated.

译者：Kyle

来源：巴比特资讯