Venezuela’s economy on the brink of collapse Venezuelan leaders face an unprecedented economic crisis, and their currency is almost worthless. So they created a new one. Venezuela’s government on Tuesday launched the world’s first sovereign cryptocurrency, the petro, to help its collapsing economy . Presale began with one token going for $60. The government is trying to sell $2.3 billion worth. Theoretically, the petro is backed by Venezuela’s reserves of precious metals like gold and crude oil. The country has the largest crude oil reserves in the world. The petro does not give investors any ownership stake in Venezuelan oil. Some investors say it’s innovative nonetheless, and could draw investment from Middle East, Europe and Asia. But many economists argue that the petro won’t solve Venezuela’s many problems, including food shortages, plummeting oil production and a mass exodus. Venezuela owes bondholders, oil companies, airlines, China, Russia and other creditors […]