Venezuela cryptocurrency Petro is up for pre-sale. The Petro was first announced by President Nicolas Maduro at the beginning of December 2017. It was also announced that the cryptocurrency will be backed by the country’s oil reserves.
According to Latin American news sources Telesur, there are 82.4 million Petros initially. The President previously said that 100 million petro will be mined, valued at over $6 billion.
President Maduro said at the launch:
Petro is born. We will achieve success for the welfare of Venezuela. With the world’s largest and most important companies and Blockchain Venezuela. We will sign important deals.
Telesur said a “manual” on how to get the petro will be available in multiple languages.
Venezuelan cryptocurrency Petro sparks controversy
The official responsible for managing the money, Carlos Vargas, said that the Petro can be exchanged for regular currencies and cryptocurrencies, but it cannot replace the bolivar (the official Venezuelan currency).
With such a sale for a cash-strapped country While it makes sense to seek new financing, the issue of the Petro is controversial.
The Venezuelan opposition says the Petro is illegal. He stated that the issuance would be heavily indebted to the country’s oil reserves, and therefore Congress should not approve of the government’s borrowing. said.
Coindesk