Venezuela says 'petro' cryptocurrency raised US$735 mln in presales

President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday that Venezuela had received 735 million US dollars in the first day of a pre-sale for the country’s “petro” cryptocurrency, which is aimed at raising foreign cash and skirting economic sanctions imposed by the US.

Maduro did not give details about the initial investors and there was no evidence presented for his figure. He added that tourism, some gasoline sales and some oil transactions could be made in petro.

Blockchain experts have warned the petro is unlikely to attract significant investment. Opposition leaders have said the sale constitutes an illegal debt issuance that circumvents Venezuela’s majority-opposition legislature, and the US Treasury Department has warned it may violate sanctions levied last year.

“Today, a cryptocurrency is being born that can take on Superman,” said Maduro, using the comic character to refer to the United States, as he was flanked by mining rigs in a state television address.

The official website for the petro on Tuesday published a guide to setting up a virtual wallet to hold the cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency goes public next month.

(REUTERS)