Venezuela Central Bank
CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuela is launching Tuesday its own version of bitcoin that it hopes will provide a boost to its crippled economy.
Officials say the so-called petro is backed by Venezuela's crude oil reserves, the largest in the world.
Socialist President Nicolas Maduro late last year announced he was creating the digital currency to outmaneuver U.S. sanctions preventing cash-strapped Venezuela from issuing new debt.
It is believed to be the first time a country has launched a virtual currency and the plan is to eventually release 100 million digital tokens.
But the U.S. Treasury Department has thrown a damper on the release. It warned U.S. citizens and companies who buy the petro that they could be violating sanctions.
