Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro has called for 10 other countries to adopt his planned oil-backed cryptocurrency, the petro. This move follows the country's parliament declaring the issuance of this new currency illegal.

Maduro's Proposal

Maduro held a meeting of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Treaty of Commerce of the Peoples (Alba – TCP) on Friday. Alba consists of Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, and Venezuela.

Alba-TCP meeting.

During the meeting, "Maduro called on the countries of the Alba to assume together the creation of the cryptocurrency, the petro," Prensa Latina reported.

"I call on us to assume the petro as an integration currency of our peoples," Efecto Cocuyo quoted him, adding that it is "imperative" to take the proposal with "maximum priority." Maduro was then quoted by El Comercio:

I put on the table, brother governments of the ALBA, the proposal of the cryptocurrency, the petro, so that we assume it as one of the projects of the integration of the 21st century in a bold way, but also in a creative way.

An Ongoing Issue

Since its announcement in early December, Venezuela's national cryptocurrency has been a topic of controversy. After assigning over 5 billion barrels of crude oil to back the new currency, Maduro ordered the issue of the first 100 million petros as well as organized a meeting of miners.