Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s recent efforts to launch oil-backed Petro cryptocurrency has received a major setback as the country’s parliament has declared the cryptocurrency as “illegal.”

Bitcoin.com reported that the National Assembly has declared Petro as illegal, along with declaring Maduro’s decree to create the cryptocurrency as null and void. The parliamentarians believe that the cryptocurrency is in violation of Venezuela’s constitution.

“This Assembly tells the world that the cryptocurrency the government wants to issue is illegal, and this parliament will come out in front to prevent public opinion [from] falling into that trap,” Deputy Carlos Valero said (Bitcoin.com quoted from El Universal).

Venezuelan parliamentarians were unanimous when they voted “absolute nullity on the issuance of the petro cryptocurrency.”

EL Universal quoted Deputy Williams Dávila saying that the government only wants "to evade financial sanctions, openly violating the Constitution, and legitimizing illicit transactions.”

According to Prensa Latina, Maduro has condemned the decision and has urged people to actively repudiate the intention of the National Assembly to disapprove Petro.