U.S. President, Donald Trump further cut off the government of Venezuela from American investors when he signed an executive order that bans the country’s citizens from purchasing the newly created cryptocurrency of Venezuela known as Petro – the first sovereign digital currency in the world.

The Petro was announced in December 2017 and intended to supplement the bolivar fuerte currency of Venezuela and help overcome the sanctions of the United States. The idea for this came from Hugo Chavez, who was said to have foreseen a strong currency that is backed by raw materials. This is according to the white paper of the government on the petro. Venezuela’s new cryptocurrency was meant to boost the economy of the country, but it has since faced criticisms abroad and at home.

Donald Trump signed an executive order prohibiting all transactions and other dealings in, by a person within the country or by a United States individual, any digital coin, digital token or digital currency issues by, for, or in behalf of the Venezuelan government. The order also authorizes Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to issue regulations to enforce of the prohibition in consultation with the State’s Secretary.

It is actually the first time that a president of the United States has banned any cryptocurrency. The president’s order describes the initial coin offering of petro as actions taken by the Maduro regime to try to circumvent the sanctions of the United States and then declared all related transactions to be unlawful. Though the government of Venezuela claims that the Petro’s issuance will give a turning point for the downtrodden economy of the country, the US President doesn’t seem to buy such idea. He even said that in the eyes of most of the world, the government of Venezuela hasn’t shown any signs of liberty and property democracy for its people.

The petro drew harsh criticisms from both cryptocurrency experts and mainstream investors. Some critics even treated it like a joke. They also think that it is a direct conflict to the main purpose of digital currencies as not controlled by any government and unregulated.

It is not surprising to learn about the executive order to ban the cryptocurrency of Venezuela, considering the United States’ currect sanctions on the country. The Treasury of the United States also warned investors in February never to touch Petro once it violated sanctions, saying that petro would look like an extension of credit to the government of Venezuela and, therefore, could expose the United States individuals to legal risks.

According to experts in cryptocurrency regulation, the ban is actually a predictable move. Although the attempt of Venezuela to issue a digital currency is novel, there is nothing new about the United States’ limiting financial dealings with countries with sanctions. “Issuing a cryptocurrency isn’t going to help Venezuela escape sanctions,” says Jerry Brito, a Coin Center Executive Director. President Trump wants to ensure that Americans don’t risk their money with investing in Petro.