The Vice President announced that the former Vice Minister of Digital Economy, Banking, Insurance and Securities would be the new President of Banco de Venezuela. Maniglia took over the financial institution after its platform suffered a debacle that left it inoperative for almost five days.
After a debacle that kept its system inoperative for almost five days, Banco de Venezuela (BDV) now has a new president. The new head of the state bank, Román Maniglia, calls himself a specialist in cryptocurrencies, FinTech, and blockchain technology.
Vice President Delcy Rodríguez announced that President Nicolás Maduro appointed Maniglia as head of the Banco de Venezuela. Rodríguez said that the former Vice Minister of Digital Economy, Banking, Insurance and Securities would assume the presidency of BDV. That event happens amid the consolidation of the digital bolivar within the framework of the national monetary reconversion process taking effect on October 1st.
Maniglia thanked the government for trusting him to fulfill the task of promoting digital banking through BDV. According to official figures for 2020, that bank has the most customers in the South American country (around 16 million).
Local specialized media say that Maniglia has related to public banking since 2010 (at Banco del Tesoro). In addition, they note that he has actively participated in the digitization of payments in the country.
According to those sources, Maniglia has attempted to promote greater use of the government’s digital currency Petro. Therefore, he could be a key figure in the creation of a digital bolivar. The currency reconversion included the alleged digitization of money, but there are no details.
The Banco de Venezuela System Was Not Operational for Five Days
Maniglia, who has experience in digital systems for the financial sector, came to BDV after its platform fell. The millions of customers of the financial institution could not access their money for almost five days. That failure did not allow them to send or receive money or make payments in commercial establishments.
Government representatives alleged that it was an attack against the systems of the national banking entity. Meanwhile, users complained about both the platform crash and the time it took to reset it. Maniglia’s task would consist of consolidating the digital platform of BDV to prevent something similar from happening in the future.
Is It Possible to Completely Exit the Banking System in Venezuela?
Venezuelan retailers handle US dollars in cash regularly, but there are not many expeditious and secure options for exchanging Bitcoin for cash. A couple of Bitcoin ATMs in Caracas allow buying but do not sell banknotes, which is worse in other locations.
Although the number of businesses accepting Bitcoin seems to be growing steadily, there are still few. People can buy in some establishments, pharmacies or restaurants, and even in the real estate sector. However, it is not yet possible to cover all aspects of life in this way.
It seems that the only possible scenario is El Salvador, whose government adopted BTC as a legal tender a few weeks ago. However, the acceptance of the pioneering cryptocurrency has been occurring gradually.
By Alexander Salazar
