Bitcoin, move over. There’s a new cryptocurrency in town: The petro
The newest cryptocurrency is the invention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The “petro”, as the cryptocurrency is known, was launched this week as a very creative Hail Mary by a struggling autocrat.
The website for the cryptocurrency claims that in its first issue, opened for trading on Feb. 20, it made available 100 million tokens, each selling for about $60, a figure that is close to the price of a barrel of oil. Each petro is supposedly backed by a barrel of oil, though analysts are not sure what this means in practice. Maduro values this issuance at $6 billion: $60 for each token for 100 million tokens.… Seguir leyendo »