India Says No to Venezuela’s ‘Crypto-oil Deal’

India’s government has claimed it has no plans to use Venezuela’s state-issued cryptocurrency, the Petro, to buy oil from the South American nation – and claims that financial guidelines prevent deals conducted in cryptocurrencies.

Earlier this year, an Indian businessman claimed that the Venezuelan government was offering Indian oil refining companies the chance to buy Venezuelan oil at a whopping 30% discount, providing they paid in Petro.

However, per Reuters, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj indicated to reporters that the government had no intention of buying oil with Petro, and explained that the country’s central bank had forbidden trading in cryptocurrencies.

The United States has banned the Petro, and lawyers have pointed out that companies doing business with Venezuela could fall foul of American law if they conduct deals that involve Petro trading.

Earlier this month, Russia’s Evrofinance Mosnarbank became the first international financial institution to agree to deal with Petro transactions – and now offers its customers special Petro wallets. The Moscow-based bank’s major shareholders include the Venezuelan government and two state-owned Russian companies.

Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro has urged schools and public centers in the country to raise money by mining cryptocurrencies.