Bolivia plans to include USDT in its “national payment system,” crypto trading volume surges by 630%

According to CoinDesk, the Bolivian government is assessing whether to officially include stablecoin leader Tether (USDT) in the country’s national payment system, as a regulated alternative to the local currency and the US dollar. Faced with intense economic pressure from an extreme shortage of US dollars, Bolivia’s crypto usage surged by 630% within a year after it lifted crypto trading restrictions in 2024, driving the country’s shift from a total ban to a national-level embrace.
(Background: Modern Automotive completed a “USDT cross-border settlement” pilot; transfers on the Avalanche chain take only 7 minutes)
(Background update: Thailand’s central bank cracks down on crypto money laundering in the “gray economy” — targeting abnormal large USDT transactions and handing them over to the SEC to expand the money-laundering investigation)

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• US dollar shortage as a catalyst, crypto trading volume surges 630%
• Gradually opening financial channels; state-owned giants once called for “crypto to pay for imports”
• Limited by the FATF “gray list”; clearing customs still requires strict anti-money-laundering controls

Latin American countries, under severe fiat-currency inflation and foreign-exchange shortage crises, are accelerating their focus on cryptocurrencies, with stablecoins becoming a practical lifeline for the real economy.

On July 13, 2026, Taipei time, according to CoinDesk, the foreign media outlet, Bolivia’s Minister of Economy José Gabriel Espinoza dropped a bombshell at a press conference, announcing that the government is currently in the technical evaluation stage and considering formally adding the stablecoin Tether (USDT) into the national payment system—so it can circulate domestically alongside the legal tender Boliviano (Boliviano) and the US dollar. This symbolizes the country’s shift from its past hardline ban on cryptocurrencies to fully embracing legal and compliant digital-asset governance.

US dollar shortage as a catalyst, crypto trading volume surges 630%

The reason Bolivia is considering introducing stablecoins into a national-level payment framework is rooted primarily in the long-standing domestic problem of a “US dollar shortage.” Earlier this year, Bolivia officially ended a fixed US dollar exchange-rate system that had lasted for 15 years, forcing the market to move to a floating exchange rate. Under the pressure of traditional US dollars being scarce and hard to obtain, large numbers of local residents and businesses have begun actively seeking alternative channels.

This surge is directly reflected in astonishing growth figures. Since the Bolivian central bank officially lifted crypto trading restrictions in June 2024, domestic digital-asset adoption has surged. Central bank statistics show that in the first half of 2024, crypto trading volume jumped from the previous $46.5 million to $294 million in the same period last year; total activity volume grew wildly by 630% in a short time, and annual total transaction volume also hit a historical record of $430 million.

Gradually opening financial channels; state-owned giants once called for “crypto to pay for imports”

In fact, Bolivia’s official and private de-dollarization self-rescue efforts have long been underway. Last year, Bolivia’s state-owned energy company YPFB announced that it planned to directly use cryptocurrencies to pay for energy import costs; meanwhile, the central bank also sought technical assistance from El Salvador, the first government in the world to designate Bitcoin as legal tender, to obtain a crypto regulatory framework.

By April this year, Bolivia’s compliant channels were further opened. The state-owned bank Banco Unión and its digital wallet Yasta announced cooperation with a third party (EFY Finance), allowing customers to directly purchase USDT for international payments and cross-border remittances. The success of this experiment has undoubtedly laid the practical groundwork for the current proposal to directly incorporate USDT into the national payment system.

Limited by the FATF “gray list”; clearing customs still requires strict anti-money-laundering controls

Although officials are working to establish the technical framework for banks, digital wallets, and payment providers, Minister José Gabriel Espinoza emphasized that the current proposal is still in the technical review stage and has not granted USDT legal-tender status.

Any further push for comprehensive implementation will face hard challenges from international regulations. Because Bolivia is still on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s anti-money-laundering “gray list”, it is under immense pressure from international monitoring of financial crimes. Therefore, the Bolivian government said that the policy focus for the next stage will be building extremely strict anti-money-laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist-financing (CFT) control measures, to ensure that this stablecoin infrastructure is not used by criminals for illegal activities such as money laundering, while defending the country’s financial security as it embraces innovation.