The financially devastated Venezuela has officially launched their crypto coin, known as the Petro Coin. About 84 million coins are initially available for sale, and the government expects about 100 million to be made in total. This is an obvious attempt at raising money, with the stated goal of generating about $6 billion for the struggling company.
The Petro Coin is backed by oil, which is an interesting idea. Having it backed by something with solid value like this will likely alleviate some of the concerns people have had about government backed coins in the past. That being said, however, most people who are involved with crypto, especially investors, have a very capitalist world view. Buying a coin backed by a very socialist government might not be very attractive.
It is quite likely that the Petro Coin itself is going to either outright fail in the long term, or limp along as a low-value coin for years to come. Regardless of how this particular coin does, however, it is one of the most significant examples of a government formed crypto to date, and that could have some big implications for the future.
If Venezuela is able to raise a significant amount of capital doing this, it is likely that other countries will try to replicate the success. Keep in mind that their stated goal of $6 billion may not sound like a lot, but the monthly minimum wage in the country has fallen to just $1, so in local terms, $6 billion is quite large.
