Venezuela is set to become the first country to launch its own cryptocurrency, as the failing socialist state today launched a presale as part of an initial coin offering.

Announced by President Nicolas Maduro in December, the “Petro” will allegedly be backed by Venezuela’s oil reserves and is squarely aimed at bypassing U.S. trade sanctions — or as Maduro puts it, to “advance in issues of monetary sovereignty, to make financial transactions and overcome the financial blockade.”

The presale is offering 82.4 million tokens out of what is claimed will be a total of 100 million tokens worth $6 billion, meaning that Venezuela raise $4.944 billion, the biggest ICO to date. The token is claimed to be “redeemable for fiduciary money and other crypto-assets through digital exchange locations.”

“The Petro is born and we are going to have a total success for the welfare of Venezuela,” Maduro is quoted as saying. “The largest and most important companies and blockchain in the world are with Venezuela, we are going to sign agreements.”

Despite skepticism, a successful presale is not impossible. Al Jazeera reported Feb. 7 that Maduro is pitching the cryptocurrency to OPEC states as part of “an international campaign to promote the Petro abroad.”

Not everyone is onboard with the idea. Venezuela’s opposition called the Petro an illegal “forward sale of Venezuelan oil.” And Coindesk noted that U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-Florida) and Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) have previously called on the U.S. Treasury to combat the use of the Petro to evade U.S. sanctions.

Economists are not fond of the idea either. Harry Colvin, director and senior economist at Longview Economics, told CNBC that the chances of success for Petro are next to none. “Venezuela has been known for misappropriation of assets in the past and the central bank has just created hyperinflation so I imagine there’ll be trust and transparency issues,” Colvin said. “If Maduro loses the election in April — or is forced out of power — then Petros would probably be made illegitimate.”

Venezuela, a self-described “Bolivarian Republic,” is regarded by most to be in the process of becoming a failed state. The country is expected to hit an inflation rate of 13,000 percent this year and its economy could contract 15 percent, leading to a cumulative gross domestic product decline of nearly 50 percent since 2013. Worsening food shortages have resulted in widespread looting and the country’s population is losing weight, on average 19 pounds per person as of February last year.

With those economic credentials, the Petro could ultimately end up becoming the largest ICO scam of all time as well.

Photo: Carlos Díaz/Wikimedia Commons