Nicolas Maduro

María Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader, discusses Bitcoin as a "vital means of resistance" for Venezuelans suffering from hyperinflation under the Chávez and Maduro regimes.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro recently revealed that the nation’s oil-backed cryptocurrency, the petro, will be used as a unit of account by the state oil company PDVSA. The government is also developing a new salary system that will allow employees to receive their wages in petro funds over fiat.

The IMF predicts that, by the end of year, Venezuela will have experienced a GDP decline of nearly 50 percent since 2013.

2017 was a particularly confusing and uneasy year to mine cryptocurrency in Venezuela. 2018 is not much better.