President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro wants the world’s major oil producers to create a mechanism for issuing cryptocurrencies, Sputnik reported.
"I will make an official proposal to all OPEC members and non-OPEC states to work out a joint cryptocurrency mechanism backed by oil," Maduro told reporters in Caracas on Monday after a meeting with the OPEC secretary general Mohammed Barkindo.
According to the president, Barkindo was very enthusiastic about the idea.
Venezuela’s president first floated the idea of a cryptocurrency in December amid the Bitcoin price rally. The Venezuelan cryptocurrency, called the Petro will be backed by oil.
The pre-sale date of the Petro is February 20, and the country plans to replenish its depleted budget. It will be divisible into 100 million units, called the mene.