venezuela

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela was arrested by Secret Service personnel near the White House on Thursday evening. The Secret Service approached the individual after noticing suspicious behavior in a vehicle on Constitution Avenue in Washington, and the suspect claimed that voices in his head instructed him to go to Washington to assassinate President Trump, admitting that he had weapons in the car.The Department of Homeland Security stated that the vehicle had previously been reported stolen. After a search, three firearms and dozens of rounds of ammunition were found, including an AR-15 style rifle and two handguns. The suspect, named Ronny Yordrix Guanipa Chrinos, entered the U.S. through Texas in March 2024 and had previously been arrested by U.S. Border Patrol but was released into the country during the Biden administration.U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has submitted a detention request to the Federal Bureau of Prisons for the suspect currently in custody. Charges include carrying a rifle outside of a residence or business, illegal transportation of firearms, possession of unregistered firearms and ammunition, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, theft, and possession of stolen property. Secret Service Director Sean Curran stated that the personnel relied on their training to defuse a situation that posed an imminent threat to their protectee and other citizens.

U.S. President Trump stated that the United States is collaborating with Venezuela to extract millions of barrels of oil to supply the U.S.

U.S. President Trump stated that the United States will receive the first batch of 1 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, with subsequent supplies reaching billions of barrels. Trump mentioned that by rebuilding relations with Venezuela, the U.S. would not require taxpayers to bear the costs of obtaining this oil, and he anticipated that gasoline and diesel prices would significantly drop.

According to Bloomberg, Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam is betting personal funds on Venezuela's oil industry. He referred to this opportunity to become a significant oil producer as an "excellent opportunity" and compared it to the once-in-a-generation investment opportunities that helped him join the ranks of billionaires.The startup founded by Fred Ehrsam, Primavera, has recently signed multiple contracts with the state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) and is preparing to take over the operations of several oil fields in the country.Primavera has also hired senior oil industry professionals from Chevron and Occidental Petroleum to assist in building the necessary infrastructure to support the production of conventional oil and heavy crude.

Venezuela grants satellite internet franchise to SpaceX.

According to Catcher Predict monitoring, in the prediction market Polymarket for the event "Venezuelan Leader Ends in 2026," the "Yes" option for the sub-market "Nicolas Maduro" has experienced significant fluctuations in winning probability, soaring from 52.2% an hour ago to the current 67.75% (a fluctuation of 15.55%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

According to a survey by the Financial Times, the Polish state-owned energy company Orlen had prepaid $230 million to the Dubai trader Hannon International for the purchase of approximately 6 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil, but ultimately received only about 500,000 barrels of fuel oil. During the transaction, part of the funds was converted into USDT and delivered to the Venezuelan side through intermediaries.Hannon stated that at least $132 million in USDT was given to two intermediaries, after which the two intermediaries went missing. After accounting for expenses such as tanker leasing and legal fees, the Polish government estimates that Orlen's total loss amounts to at least $424 million. Orlen is currently seeking to recover the advance payment through arbitration.

Cornell University in the United States released a Bitcoin Adoption Index report, which surveyed 25,880 people across 25 countries. The report shows that El Salvador, Venezuela, and Nigeria have the highest percentage of respondents who have owned Bitcoin. The report states that in these economies where fiat currencies are unstable and it is difficult to obtain US dollars or reliable banking services, Bitcoin plays more of a role as a "pragmatic workaround" rather than a speculative tool.A Venezuelan respondent stated that Bitcoin is "faster, cleaner, and less risky" than other ways to obtain US dollars; an El Salvadoran mentioned that "no one controls Bitcoin, which means we all own it"; and a Nigerian respondent said that they have visited six African countries and felt no worries because they knew they could spend Bitcoin.The survey also found that 58% of respondents were unaware that the Bitcoin supply cap is 21 million coins. The report was commissioned by Cornell University and conducted by Morning Consult, in collaboration with the university's Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy's Institute for Technology Policy, the Cornell Bitcoin Club, the Human Rights Foundation, and the Reynolds Foundation. The survey was conducted from December 16, 2024, to March 10, 2025, and included 125 questions.

U.S. President Trump will fill the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve with Venezuelan oil. The process to replenish it to full capacity will soon be initiated.

According to Axios, the Trump administration is negotiating with the interim government of Venezuela to seek ownership rights to some of the country's oil fields, involving more than a dozen productive oil fields.In exchange, private companies, including American enterprises, will participate in the development of the oil fields, increasing production and bringing more oil revenue to Venezuela. The negotiations are led by U.S. Secretary of State Rubio and Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodríguez.

According to Livecoins, the Chilean Financial Market Commission (CMF) announced the cancellation of the registration qualifications of the cryptocurrency platform Plusspay, due to its investigation revealing connections with the Venezuelan criminal organization "Tren de Aragua," which was used to provide financial support to the gang.In addition to Plusspay, several other institutions, including Pixeltec and Iuinvest, that failed to submit complete information on time as required by the Financial Technology Law (Lei Fintec) have also had their qualifications to provide services in the Chilean market revoked. These institutions are prohibited from expanding their customer base and may only conduct operations related to clearing services and returning frozen funds to existing users. Regulators emphasized that payment and cryptocurrency service providers must enhance transparency to prevent money laundering and illegal fund flows.

The French newspaper "Le Monde" revealed that there has been new progress in the investigation of a cryptocurrency-related kidnapping case that occurred in 2023. French law enforcement discovered a transnational money laundering network involving multiple countries and cryptocurrency wallets while tracing the flow of a €1.7 million cryptocurrency ransom. The victim was the father of the well-known crypto influencer "TeufeurS." The kidnappers threatened the victim's family via text messages and demanded ransom payment in cryptocurrency. Ultimately, TeufeurS transferred a total of €1.7 million to the kidnappers' designated wallet in two installments, after which his father was released.The investigation showed that part of the ransom flowed into wallet accounts controlled by foreign nationals after multiple transfers. One transfer of $131,000 was successfully traced by the French gendarmerie, with leads ultimately pointing to a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by Venezuelan nationals. The case further revealed the complex chain of money laundering utilized by criminal organizations through cross-border cryptocurrency transfers, anonymous wallets, and overseas platforms. The report stated that this case is considered one of the significant examples of kidnapping and extortion cases in the European cryptocurrency industry and may serve as an early template for multiple kidnapping cases targeting cryptocurrency practitioners in France and Europe in 2025.

According to Bitcoin.com, the Venezuelan government has reiterated a nationwide ban on cryptocurrency mining to address the current energy crisis.The country's national power system peak demand reached 15,579 megawatts, a new high in nine years, with officials attributing this electricity peak to a persistent heatwave and national economic growth. The statement emphasized that "digital mining is absolutely prohibited nationwide," and violators will face legal sanctions. Authorities have developed a supervision plan to enforce this ban.

According to Cointelegraph, Colombian President Gustavo Petro has publicly stated that Colombia should follow the example of Venezuela and Paraguay by actively attracting Bitcoin mining investments, and pointed out that the undeveloped renewable energy along the Caribbean coast is a core advantage for promoting mining development.

According to Jinshi, the U.S. Treasury has issued a license authorizing specific activities involving gold of Venezuelan origin.

According to Jinshi News, Venezuela's state-owned mining company has signed a multi-million dollar agreement to sell up to 1,000 kilograms of gold, which will flow to the U.S. market.

According to market news, the cryptocurrency exchange Binance has recently implemented stricter risk controls for Venezuelan users using bank card payment channels.Official reports indicate that users purchasing cryptocurrencies with bank cards issued by Venezuelan banking institutions and virtual dollar cards issued in Panama (such as Zinli or Wally) are facing high rejection rates and operational restrictions. The main issues encountered by users include failure to receive verification codes, additional restrictions on virtual cards, and the complete disappearance of certain account payment options. This situation has led to a significant increase in customer service requests at Binance.Analysts point out that these restrictions are related to the current currency arbitrage phenomenon in Venezuela. Users purchase dollars at the official exchange rate and transfer them to international debit cards, then buy USDT on Binance, and subsequently sell it at a higher exchange rate through the peer-to-peer (P2P) market for profit.

According to Jinshi Data, Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted down a resolution aimed at prohibiting President Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional authorization, with a tie vote of 215 to 215. A similar measure failed in the Senate a few days earlier.In the narrowly divided House, the voting results were largely along party lines. All Republicans, except for Don Bacon of Nebraska and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, voted against it. All Democrats voted in favor. This deadlocked vote reflects concerns in Congress (including among some Republicans) about Trump's foreign policy. An increasing number of people support the constitutional view that the power to send U.S. troops into combat should belong to Congress, not the President.

Trump stated in a speech that the leaker of the Venezuela incident has been captured and may face long-term imprisonment.In addition, Polymarket data shows that out of 3 insider address accounts related to Venezuela on Polymarket, 1 account is no longer viewable, with its last activity being 11 days ago.