Venezuela claims to have generated $735m on first day of Petro cryptocurrency

Venezuelan cryptocurrency "can take on superman", claims President Maduro

Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro has claimed that the country's 'Petro' cryptocurrency launch has been a huge success, generating funds of $735 million on its first day.

Speaking at the launch on Tuesday, Maduro claimed that the currency is intended to help solve his country's grave economic problems.

However, according to Reuters, Maduro did not explain where he got the figure from or confirm any investors, but he did say that tourism, oil, and gas industries might be able to take payments in the new currency.

"Today, a cryptocurrency is being born that can take on Superman," he claimed at the launch. But according to onlookers, the talk was vague.

The country's government has also published a website explaining the currency. It contains a guide on how to set up a virtual wallet for the currency, which the government claims will be backed by oil produced by the state-owned oil company, PDVSA.

Petro is set to go live next month, and the Venezuelan government is said to be working with potential investors from Europe, the US, Turkey and Qatar - although it remains to be seen who they are, and whether they can be persuaded to actually invest.

The government has been tight-lipped, but it is believed that 100 million Petro coins would be equivalent to $6 billion.

Maduro claims that his country has fallen victim to an "economic war", which has been accelerated by opposition parties - which he's had banned - and President Trump.

Opposition officials branded the cryptocurrency illegal, warning that it circumvented Venezuela's majority-opposition legislature. The US Treasury Department has warned it may violate sanctions, according to Reuters.

In December, Venezuela's government confirmed that it would be launching a cryptocurrency backed by oil assets, but never announced a concrete launch date. It had been expected to appear in January.

At the time, the government said the cryptocurrency would solve the country's grave economic problems, largely caused by the policies of Maduro's own government, and his predecessor Hugo Chavez.

Maduro said it would be supported by 5.4 billion barrels of oil valued at $267 billion, produced by Venezuela's state-owned oil company. However, output is falling as a result of under-investment, compounded by the removal of thousands of 'politically unsound' - but experienced - employees under Chavez.

More recently, PDVSA has undergone a new purge in a crackdown on corruption, that critics say is also intended to remove potential rivals to President Maduro.

Communications minister Jorge Rodriguez claimed: "Camp one of the Ayacucho [oil] block will form the initial backing of this cryptocurrency.

"It will be materially impossible for the dictatorial financial centres of the world to intervene against this initiative. It will allow us to overcome any financial blockade."