Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro has invited all OPEC nations to jointly develop a platform for the trading of oil-backed cryptocurrencies. Venezuela is preparing for a pre-sale of the petro, its oil-backed cryptocurrency which can be used to pay national taxes, fees, and public services.

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Inviting OPEC Nations

During the meeting on Tuesday with Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mohammed Barkindo, Maduro proposed for all OPEC nations to come together and develop a platform for the trading of oil-backed cryptocurrencies.

Meeting between Maduro and Mohammed Barkindo.

OPEC consists of 14 nations: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. "I will officially send all the OPEC producers a proposal," Maduro announced and extended the invitation to non-OPEC countries, saying:

I will officially propose to the OPEC and non-OPEC countries that we adopt a joint cryptocurrency mechanism backed by oil.

Venezuela recently published the whitepaper for its own oil-backed cryptocurrency. A private pre-sale of the petro will be held on February 20, followed by an initial coin offering (ICO) in March.