Venezuela´s President Nicolas Maduro decided on February 22, 2018, that one state-issued cryptocurrency isn’t enough. Now, the country is ready to launch the 2nd cryptocurrency, called «Petro Gold».
Venezuela's new oil-backed cryptocurrency El Petro brought in $735 million on during Tuesday's pre-sale. Several firms and investors from Brazil, Poland, Denmark, Honduras, Norway and the Middle East have said they are open to receiving Petro as payments for goods or investing in the currency.
The Venezuelan government is now preparing a new digital currency called the Petro Gold or Petro Oro. Gold and other precious metals will back the new cryptocurrency.
«Next week I'm going to launch the Petro gold, backed by gold, which is even more powerful, to strengthen the Petro», Maduro said in a televised speech on Wednesday night.
Maduro has said the goal of the Petro, and now the Petro Gold is to combat sanctions and the «economic war», waged by the U.S. government and its junior partners against his country, all while advancing «on issues of monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome the financial blockade.»
He said: «We have taken a giant step into the 21st Century... We are on the world’s technological vanguard.»
