On June 1, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a $5 million reward on Joselit Ramírez, the chief of the National Superintendency of Cryptoassets, otherwise known as being the mind behind Venezuela’s petroleum-backed cryptocurrency, Petro. 

Joselit Ramirez is in charge of Venezuela’s Petro cryptocurrency efforts, having joined the department in June 2018. While Ramirez was not part of the effort at the time of Petro’s launch, he now plays an instrumental part behind the cryptocurrency.

A division of the US Department of Homeland Security, the press release by the agency says that Ramirez is wanted for money laundering and the evasion of sanctions, and has ties to “deep political, social and economic ties to multiple alleged narcotics kingpins.” 

As a part of the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program, the $5 million reward is not the first of its kind to be targeting Venezuelan officials. In March, the US State Department announced that it was offering $15 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela. 

The US government has contended that Maduro is running a corrupt regime, also stating that Maduro was working with guerrilla group FARC to pour cocaine into the US to “undermine the health and well being” of the country.

The Petro cryptocurrency, meanwhile, has been struggling to gain adoption as it has shown little practical value since its inception. The Venezuelan government recently announced that it would be added as a payments option for fuel in the nation - while removing subsidized fuel - to boost adoption.

Independent developers, like Valiu, are working on their solutions which is building a crypto-dollar. The asset is primarily intended as a solution for remittances.