The Venezuelan electoral body has announced that Nicolas Maduro has been re-elected as president, despite objections from the opposition. Amidst economic hardships, international sanctions, and significant emigration, Venezuela has increasingly relied on cryptocurrency, particularly in 2023, when remittances received via cryptocurrencies totaled over $461 million. It's worth noting that the state-owned oil company PDVSA had attempted to circumvent U.S. sanctions using Tether (USDT), but Venezuela terminated its five-year Petro cryptocurrency project earlier this year. Election results show that Maduro received 51% of the votes, while the opposition candidate Edmundo González received 44%. The U.S. has expressed serious concerns about the outcome, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken describing it as “one of the most predictable and absurd sham elections in modern history.”