Media sources in Venezuela have reported that the government has called for citizens to build crypto mining facilities across the country. The government has reportedly already set up a cryptocurrency mining program that President Nicolas Maduro says will hopefully attract more than a million people including university students, the homeless, and the unemployed.

President seeks crypto miners

Speaking in Caracas, the President Maduro said that the youth should be courageous and set up “crypto farms across Venezuela,” Telesur wrote this week. Registration to the program dubbed “Plan Chamba Juvenil Digital” which means Youth Digital Work Plan will open on April 15th, 2018, and the government is hoping that “it will attract more than 1 million students.”

The president posted a tweet: “Attention, young people! Today the Youth Digital Work Plan has emerged to allow you to form crypto mining farms which can mint world currencies. This is because Venezuela doesn’t give up!”

“This program has been designed to incorporate youth-including university students, single mothers, the homeless, and the unemployed-into working life. It is expected to offer employment opportunities to graduates,” the president detailed.

The government is building mining farms

The country’s minister for youth, Pedro Infante, is quoted to have said at a Thursday press briefing that the government would build crypto mining farms to boost crypto-related training. The minister further said that the government has already approved about 96 billion bolivars, approximately USD 2.9 million, for developing the said farms.

He says the project was designed to “guarantee incorporation of the youth in the labor industry, and that it needs at least a million people aging below 35.” The minister explained that the youth make up 60 percent of the entire population in the country, of which 879,000 have already joined the program.

According to a story published by El Ciudadano, among Venezuela’s 23 provinces, Miranda (North), Zulia (West), Lara (Center), and Carabobo (North Center) have the largest youth participation in the national program. In February, authorities opened a school to teach citizens about digital currencies and how they are mined.

A local publication has reported that VIT (Venezolana de Industria Tecnologica) will assemble mining rigs that will be installed throughout the country. VIT’s president, Jorge Michainaux, explained that “the company is going to work on creating the petro container, portable mining centers.” The news outlet also reported that President Maduro reiterated that “the aim is strengthening the use of digital coins as part of a larger economic revolution, democratizing the international financial systems. They are going to have the petro as well as all digital currencies like ethereum and bitcoin and other new digital coins being created.”

Strengthening the Petro

Telesur quoted the president saying that he hopes these crypto mining facilities will “strengthen petro.” However, the country’s new digital coin itself is pre-mined. The currency’s whitepaper stated that “the whole issue will get into the country’s digital portfolios at the start of the pre-sale process.”

The pre-selling of Petro supposedly started on February 20th. President Maduro said that the “pre-sale generated more than USD 5 billion, and as of March 10th, it had recorded over 186,000 purchases.”