As we previously noted, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said last Thursday that Venezuela will be looking to "free" itself from the U.S. dollar next week. According to Reuters,

"Venezuela is going to implement a new system of international payments and will create a basket of currencies to free us from the dollar," Maduro said in a multi-hour address to a new legislative "superbody." He reportedly did not provide details of this new proposal.

Maduro hinted further that the South American country would look to using the yuan instead, among other currencies.

"If they pursue us with the dollar, we'll use the Russian ruble, the yuan, yen, the Indian rupee, the euro," Maduro also said.

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And today, as The Wall Street Journal reports, in an effort to circumvent U.S. sanctions, Venezuela is telling oil traders that it will no longer receive or send payments in dollars, people familiar with the new policy said.

Oil traders who export Venezuelan crude or import oil products into the country have begun converting their invoices to euros.

The state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA, known as PdVSA, has told its private joint venture partners to open accounts in euros and to convert existing cash holdings into Europe's main currency, said one project partner.

The new payment policy hasn't been publicly announced, but Vice President Tareck El Aissami, who has been blacklisted by the U.S., said Friday, "To fight against the economic blockade there will be a basket of currencies to liberate us from the dollar."

There is no major market reaction for now - a modest bid to Bitcoin and some weakness in EUR and Gold (seems someone wants this to look like nothing).

However, as Nomura debt analyst Siobhan Morden warns:

"You can say whatever you want for your domestic propaganda and make it look like you're retaliating against the U.S.... This political posturing will only be to their detriment."

So what happens if Europe also sanctions Venezuela? Will Rubles or Yuan... or Gold be the only way to buy Venezuela's oil?

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This decision by the nation with the world's largest proven oil reserves comes just days ago