It is attached to the bolivar. From the whitepaper:



The purchasing power of the petro is directly associated with the price of the bolivar. Also, it sounds like the petro/bolivar rate can be pretty easily manipulated since the rate is being calculated only by exchanges authorized by the government. What happens when other exchanges outside of the government's control start selling the PTR? I imagine some pretty huge arbitrage opportunities will open up.


The point is there's a credibility issue with Maduro.

On top of that, Venezuela's National Assembly declared the Petro unconstitutional:

http://www.asambleanacional.gob.ve/noticias/_an-declaro-nula-la-emision-del-petro-y-todas-sus-obligaciones

There's a pretty big difference between gold and a state-controlled cryptocurrency, BTW.