Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that on the first day of the sale of the petro cryptocurrency, the country raised $ 735 million, but he did not support these figures with any evidence..
Maduro made the announcement on Tuesday on national television and through his official Twitter account, however, according to Reuters and the Associated Press, he said nothing about who exactly invested in petro..
Maduro, however, was very optimistic about the future cryptocurrency, which he announced back in December in order to bypass the sanctions imposed by the United States..
“Today, a cryptocurrency was born that can compete with Superman,” Maduro quoted Reuters as comparing the United States to a comic book character. “We have made a big step into the 21st century,” the Associated Press also quoted the Venezuelan president..
The petro presale was announced on Tuesday and is scheduled to run until March 19.
Previously, the Venezuelan government stated that each petro token would be backed by one barrel of oil and pegged to its market price as of February 20.
It is not yet clear which network will be the basis for the token, as one document released today lists the Ethereum network and another, with buyer’s guidance, refers to the alternative blockchain system NEM..
But with all this, the Venezuelan initiative is the world’s first example of a government issuing its own cryptocurrency. This story attracted the attention of the whole world, but was also criticized by politicians serving both in Venezuela itself and beyond..
Thus, the Venezuelan opposition-minded parliament called Maduro’s plan illegal, and “petro” – an instrument of corruption. Some US Senators have also expressed their concerns about using “petro” to circumvent US sanctions..