A prolonged dollar shortage is pushing the once crypto-averse government to consider bringing the largest stablecoin into its formal payments system.
Posted July 14, 2026 at 6:17 am EST.
Bolivia is considering whether to bring Tether’s USDT into its national payments system, letting the stablecoin circulate alongside the boliviano and the US dollar. It would be a striking reversal for a country that outlawed crypto transactions until 2024.
Economy and Public Finance Minister José Gabriel Espinoza said at a Friday press conference that the government is studying a regulatory framework covering banks, digital wallets, and payment providers. The proposal remains under technical review, and officials have not published implementation rules or granted USDT legal-tender status.
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Bolivia has been squeezed by a prolonged shortage of US dollars and USDT has already become a de facto dollar substitute for businesses and consumers, a pattern seen across Latin America’s dollar-starved economies, which is why the government wants it inside a regulated perimeter rather than running around the banking system.
Adoption has surged since the central bank lifted its crypto ban in June 2024, with transaction volume climbing more than 630% and reaching about $430 million in the following year. State-owned Banco Unión added USDT purchases to its Yasta wallet in April, and other lenders have rolled out stablecoin services.
Bolivia has sat on the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list since 2025, subjecting it to heightened monitoring, so any rollout would require stronger anti-money-laundering controls, Espinoza said.
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AI-assisted content: This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and was reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by a member of the Unchained editorial team before publication.
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