The President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro announced the issue of 100 million cryptocurrency El Petro coins that will be backed by venezuelan oil, reports Telesur.
“The price of each El Petro coin will be equal to the cost of one barrel of venezuelan oil”, – said Maduro at the cabinet meeting.
He assured that El Petro “will help the country increase its monetary sovereignty” and overcome economic blockade. According to Maduro, the cryptocurrency can help process transactions to find new budget sources.
Maduro announced the plan to issue cryptocurrency in December, 2017. It was created to help the country that is under international sanctions.
In summer 2017 the USA passed sanctions on the president of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA).
Venezuela has been facing deep economic crisis since 2014.