Venezuela to Issue Oil-Backed Cryptocurrency in ‘Coming Days’
- Cryptocurrency, known as petro, to be worth same as oil barrel
- Petro will be available through auctions, direct allocation
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President Nicolas Maduro on Friday said Venezuela in the coming days will issue 100 million units of an oil-backed cryptocurrency known as the petro, which will be worth the price of one barrel in Venezuela’s oil basket.
Speaking at a meeting of his ministers broadcast on state television, Maduro said that the petro will be backed by 5 billion barrels in the Ayacucho block of the Orinoco Oil Belt. Based on the latest price of the country’s oil basket, the total issue would be worth about $5.9 billion.