Cuba has announced it is considering the use of cryptocurrency in order to bolster its finances.

According to a report from SBS-AAP, the country’s Communist government announced on state-run TV that it would potentially use crypto as part of a package aimed to boost incomes for as much as a quarter of Cubans and assist with market reforms.

The move is possibly influenced by the nation’s ally, Venezuela, which launched its own “petro” cryptocurrency early last year. It’s not clear from the report if Cuba might launch its own token or use existing alternatives, Coin Desk reported.

Cuba's inefficient state economy is facing a crisis due to a sharp decline in Venezuela's aid, a lower export and tightening of the US trade embargo in the current decade under the current president Donald Trump.

The new measures were announced by President Miguel Diaz-Canel and his government on state-run TV.  They are expected to increase incomes for about a quarter of the country's population and deepen market reforms in one of the last Soviet-style economies that were launched from the previous president of island state Raúl Castro.

“We are planning to explore the potential application of cryptocurrency […] In fact, we’ve gone further and decided to study the potential use of cryptocurrency in national and international commercial relations.”, saidAlejandro Gil Fernandez, the country’s Minister of Economy and Planning.

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