Venezuela to launch presale of Petro cryptocurrency in February

CARACAS, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday announced his country's new cryptocurrency, the Petro, will be available for presale in February.

"I am announcing that on Feb. 20 of this year, Venezuela begins the presale of the cryptocurrency, the Petro," Maduro said.

The government is to release details of how the digital currency, akin to Bitcoin, will function on Wednesday.

Late last year, Maduro announced Venezuela will present a cryptocurrency backed by the world's largest oil reserves, as well as Venezuelan gold, gas and diamond deposits, in a bid to counter U.S. sanctions that choke off his country's access to dollars.

The Petro is already having a "major impact," said Maduro, adding "this is the future ... let's have faith in what we create, in the intellectual and technological force that our country has."

Venezuela is to issue some 100 million Petros.

In a recent interview, Carlos Rivas, a Venezuelan expert in big data and digital trends, told Xinhua the oil-backed cryptocurrency should substantially boost revenues for the cash-strapped South American country.

"The markets are eager for assets and the projected returns on cryptocurrencies by far surpass those on standard currencies," he said.

However, he warned that since the cryptocurrency was being floated by Venezuela, it's likely to encounter a politically-motivated backlash in the shape of "a global campaign to discredit the Petro" and undermine confidence in the digital currency. Enditem