Petro

The petro, or petromoneda, launched in February 2018, is a cryptocurrency developed by the government of Venezuela. Announced in December 2017, it is claimed to be backed by the country's oil and mineral reserves, and it is intended to supplement Venezuela's plummeting bolívar fuerte currency, purportedly as a means of circumventing U.S. sanctions and accessing international financing. Petros will be "pre-mined", meaning that new tokens cannot be created after the issuance, and are likely to be a token on the Ethereum network.

Response
In response, Venezuela’s National Assembly, run by the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable, declared the petro to be an illegal debt issuance by a government desperate for cash, and has said it will not recognize it.

In the United States, the Department of the Treasury warned that participating in Venezuela's proposed initial coin offering for the petro cryptocurrency could violate U.S. sanctions against Venezuela, because it "would appear to be an extension of credit to the Venezuelan government".

The cryptocurrency community's response was mixed yet generally negative. Financial journalist Max Keiser expressed his support in light of the country's hyperinflation, while economist Jean Paul Leidenz expressed concerns that the creation of the petro would encourage further hyperinflation. Forbes's Steve Hanke stated that the petro was likely to wind up "in the graveyard".