According to Cointelegraph, the Venezuelan government has announced a six-month extension to the reorganization of its National Superintendency of Crypto Assets (Sunacrip), which effectively ceased operations in March 2023. The decision was made by President Nicolás Maduro and published in a presidential decree on September 19. The new extension period began on September 17 and will last until March 24, 2024.

Sunacrip was closed in March 2023 following a corruption scandal involving its former top management, which led to the arrest of at least ten people, including its leader Joselit Ramirez Camacho. Venezuelan prosecutors accused Ramirez of stealing more than $3 million from the state during his time at Sunacrip. The shutdown of the regulatory body caused chaos in the Venezuelan crypto industry, which is closely tied to the state and has been used to evade U.S. financial sanctions. As a result, crypto mining facilities in several states were shut down, and some crypto exchanges were ordered to cease operations.

Established in 2018, Sunacrip was responsible for overseeing the entirety of crypto-related commercial activities in Venezuela, including the creation, emission, transfer, commercialization, and exchange of all crypto assets. In 2018, the country launched the oil-backed cryptocurrency Petro, which was reportedly planned for liquidation by the summer of 2023, although its official webpage remains functional at the time of publication.