Latam Insights Encore: Bolivia's Crypto Affair Is Unavoidable: Here's Why

Welcome to Latam Insights Encore, a deep dive into Latin America’s most relevant economic and crypto news from the past week. This edition explores how the ongoing crisis in Bolivia is configured to stimulate the growth of crypto adoption, even from the government side.

Latam Insights Encore: Bolivia Is Set to Become a Crypto Power as Its Economy Worsens

Bolivia has become a case study for cryptocurrency adoption in Latam, given the current adverse economic situation that its citizens face. Bolivians are now dealing with an adverse turn of events that involves irresponsible management of their currency markets, which is derived from capital controls to avoid dollar flight.

Nonetheless, as it commonly happens in these cases, these measures, maintained over long periods, hurt the economy of these countries, leaving them with systemic failures. In this case, not only has the personal economy of Bolivians been affected, but also the nation’s overall capacity to acquire the goods needed to perform production activities, such as fuel.

Even President Luis Arce has recently acknowledged that Bolivia faces dire straits with its dollar reserves. “Today we live day to day. All the dollars we have are basically for fuel, debt payments, and all that,” he recognized.

Nonetheless, it seems that when these crises strike, cryptocurrency steps in to aid citizens in facing these adverse outcomes. Since lifting a blanket ban on crypto, the Bolivian crypto scene has grown dramatically, with trading volumes growing by over 600% during the first half of 2025. Stablecoins, which provide bolivians with a dollar proxy alternative, are at the forefront of this wave.

I predict that this usage will continue growing, encompassing state-driven activities even when President Arce issued an executive order barring state oil companies from using stablecoins in their settlement operations.

As stablecoins keep growing to become a safe and generalized payment instrument, Bolivia will have no choice but to lift this ban to enjoy the benefits of using stablecoins, and not difficult-to-find dollars, for these activities. This will also release the dollars destined for these activities to be used for other objectives.

Read more: Central Bank of Bolivia Registers Record Use of Virtual Assets Amidst Dollar Scarcity