A store exchanges various currencies and cryptocurrencies in the city center of La Paz. Photographer: Manuel Seoane/Bloomberg
In Bolivia these days, just about anything seems better than holding the local currency. The buying power of the boliviano has cratered, as trust in the once-dominant socialist government nears all-time lows, inflation hits three-decade highs and dollars are in short supply.
That’s why more and more people are turning to a risky alternative to do business and protect their hard-earned savings: cryptocurrencies.
From small coffee shops to large corporations, signs of rapid adoption are everywhere in this landlocked nation of 11 million in South America. At the El Alto International Airport, a vendor lists prices of candy and sunglasses in USDT, a stablecoin issued by Tether and fixed at 1-for-1 to the dollar. A top university pays its international faculty in Bitcoin. For a while, even the state-owned oil company was authorized to use stablecoins for foreign payments.
All told, digital payments have skyrocketed more than fivefold to nearly $300 million in the first six months of 2025, after a decade-long ban was lifted a little more than a year ago.
“Among importers, crypto use is high,” said Oswaldo Barriga, a local business leader. “When they can’t access hard currency and need to make urgent payments, crypto becomes a viable alternative.”
A client holding a Binance cryptocurrencies QR code at a store in La Paz.
To many, Bolivia is one of the biggest test cases yet for a belief held by many crypto diehards: digital assets aren’t merely for speculation, they’re a better way to do commerce, free from the currency debasement of profligate governments and money-printing central banks alike.
Sure, cryptocurrencies still make up a minuscule part of Bolivia’s broader economy, but the newfound popularity has been undeniable.
That has, in large part, been driven by necessity. Bolivia’s finances are in shambles. The government has run budget shortfalls for 11 straight years and is mired in foreign-currency debt equal to a quarter of the size of its economy. Its state-owned natural gas industry has floundered, undermining the country’s ability to earn hard currency from one of its biggest exports.
All the while, inflation at a 34-year-high of 25% has ravaged Bolivians’ savings and purchasing power, and an artificially high fixed rate on the boliviano has made buying everyday goods, much of which are imported, all too costly.
But the increasing use of digital assets has also been driven by a deep-seated distrust in traditional institutions that have failed to work in the interests of ordinary Bolivians — an all-too familiar sentiment in Latin America, and increasingly, around the world.
And while Bolivians will elect a new president on Aug. 17, the chronic economic crisis has so entrenched crypto in local life that it seems likely to transcend any outcome.
As much as the boliviano is disdained, crypto has its own risks. Some stablecoins have been shown to have shaky foundations in their reserves, and Bitcoin is sometimes prone to violent price swings. Digital dollars may open up new opportunities for Bolivians, but they can also present new challenges.
Christopher Salas sells coffee from a tiny sidewalk stand in downtown La Paz, Bolivia’s de facto capital. Most of his customers pay him in bolivianos, but some buy with satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin. A QR code displayed at Salas’ kiosk links to his crypto wallet from Blink, a Salvadoran company.
“I’m not the only one using Bitcoin,” Salas said in an interview. “There’s a barbershop over there and a gym that also accepts satoshis.”
Salas says doing business with crypto isn’t just a practical move, it’s also a form of rebellion.
“For me, it’s a way to preserve the value of my savings, but also a way to go against the system, against bureaucracy,” he said.
Christopher Salas’ coffee stands accepts cryptocurrency in downtown La paz.
While obtaining crypto is relatively easy now, getting greenbacks is a daunting task. At private banks, customer withdrawals are sometimes limited to just $100 per week. Dollars can be had on the black market, but they cost about 14 bolivianos, double the official exchange rate. That’s similar to the going price for one USDT, a popular option for Bolivia’s crypto crowd.
Carlos Neira has seen the growth first-hand. He co-founded Meru, a Colombian crypto wallet provider, and said his platform has seen a 6,600% increase in Bolivian users since the central bank ban was lifted. Binance is also favored for its low fees and educational resources for new users.
“The growth in Bolivia has been more intense and organic than in other markets,” Neira said.
However, turning to stablecoins to escape local instability comes with its own risks. Dollar-pegged stablecoin Terra imploded in 2022, and a year prior, Tether paid $41 million to settle with the US government over allegations that it lied about its reserves. Those tokens are tied to the dollar, which holds great import as the global reserve currency, but even that is down about 8% this year according to a Bloomberg measure, largely due to turbulent US trade policy.
Since Bolivia’s government lifted the crypto ban, it’s mostly taken a hands-off approach. Making it legal is all it took for many citizens to embrace it.
That stands in contrast to El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele made Bitcoin legal tender in 2021 and heavily promoted it. Despite the government’s push, only 4.9% of transactions there involve Bitcoin, according to a 2023 study.
In countries like Venezuela and Argentina, bouts of rampant inflation have led to people adopting crypto as a store of value, but not a widespread tool for commerce. Actually using digital assets to buy things presents a steep learning curve that may have proved too much for most non-enthusiasts.
Signs posted outside an electronics’ store notifies customers that they buy dollars and accept cryptocurrencies in La Paz.
“Foreign companies view Bolivia as the epicenter of the crypto ecosystem in Latin America,” said Mauricio Dulon, co-organizer of a recent crypto summit held in La Paz.
That fervor has drawn a bevy of crypto providers into the country, according to Hugo Miranda, digital economy officer at the Bolivia Internet Foundation, which promotes the use of technology. Meanwhile, local social media influencers are promoting crypto as a path to financial freedom.
Local firms are also responding to intense demand. Guido Balcazar, general manager of Red Enlace, a credit card processor in Bolivia, said his company is racing to roll out upgrades that will let retailers accept USDT via point-of-sale terminals and QR codes.