Yesterday, on February 20, Venezuela did the first selling of its own cryptocurrency El Petro (petro). Thus, the country became the first state in the world which created its own cryptocurrency.

The cost of El Petro is backed by the reserves of oil, gas, gold and diamonds, reported the Venezuelan authorities. Petro’s price corresponds to the cost of one barrel of Venezuelan oil, which is 60 dollars for now.

Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, hopes that the El Petro will attract investments from Turkey, Qatar, the United States and Europe, said Carlos Vargas, the country's cryptocurrency regulator. Also he expects such step will help the country to overcome the financial blockade.

Remind, the US government and the European Union have imposed financial sanctions against Venezuela for persecuting the opposition representatives.

Bolivar, the national currency, is depreciating intensively. In 2017, the Venezuela’s inflation rate exceeded 4000%, and in January 2018, the inflation rate accelerated by plus 84.2%.

It will be issued 100 million tokens worth $6 billion, according to Maduro. For these purposes, the Venezuelan authorities reserved 5 billion barrels of the oil from the Ayacucho field.

However, the opposition-controlled Venezuelan parliament declared El Petro tokens illegal. Incidentally, according to the country legislation, the parliament must approve any state loans.

General reference: Venezuela is in a difficult economic situation for many years. There are disruption of energy supplies, a shortage of essential goods and a rapid price appreciation in the country. Lack of foreign currency caused a strong drop in imports, including food. According to the largest rating agencies Venezuela’s rating is lowered to default.

Source:

http://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-cryptocurrency-petro-launch-bitcoin-2018-2