Venezuela launches its oil-backed crypto-currency, the petro
Caracas — Venezuela formally launched its new oil-backed crypto-currency on Tuesday in an unconventional bid to haul itself out of a deepening economic crisis. The leftist Caracas government put 38.4-million units of the world’s first state-backed digital currency, the petro, on private pre-sale from the early hours. A total of 100-million petros will go on sale, with an initial value set at $60, based on the price of a barrel of Venezuelan crude in mid-January. The Latin American country has the world’s largest proven oil reserves but is facing a crippling economic and political crisis. Vice-president Tareck El Aissami said the petro will "generate confidence and security in the national and international market." President Nicolas Maduro announced in early December that Venezuela — which is under sanctions from the US as well as the EU — was creating the digital currency. He said he expects the petro to open "new avenues of financing" in the face of Washington’s sanctions, which p...
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