In brief
- Bolivia is assessing the potential to include USDT alongside other forms of payment in the nation.
- The nation removed a block on crypto transactions in 2024 and is still working on a way to regulate crypto assets.
- From July 2024 to June 2025, it facilitated more than $14.8 billion in crypto transaction volumes.
Bolivia’s economy is stabilizing, and now it is investigating the potential inclusion of Tether’s dollar-backed stablecoin USDT as a form of payment in the nation, according to a local news report from La Razón.
The report stems from a Friday briefing from Bolivia’s Minister of Economy, José Gabriel Espinoza Yáñez, who highlighted the care that must be taken as part of the assessment.
“Remember that Bolivia is on the [Financial Action Task Force] gray list, yet another consequence of the problems they left us with in the past, and these crypto assets must be carefully evaluated,” he said in the press conference, per the publication.
“We are working on regulations to govern their use for those who have adopted them, in many cases out of necessity, and know how to use them properly,” he added.
The FATF lists, black and grey, identify nations that have deficiencies in their ability to counter money laundering and terrorist financing. On the grey list, Bolivia is under increased monitoring by the FATF, but it is deemed to be “committed to resolving” the issues quickly.
"The Bolivian economy today is considerably different from what we found eight months ago,” said Espinoza Yáñez in a statement. “The measures we implemented are part of a plan designed before we took office, and the results are beginning to validate that approach.”
The South American nation removed a block on crypto transactions in 2024, helping to fuel explosive crypto growth in Latin America, which recorded almost $1.5 trillion in transactions over a three-year stretch ending June 2025, according to data from Chainalysis.
During the period from July 2024 to June 2025, the nation ranked eighth among its Latin American peers with $14.8 billion in transactions, outpacing others like Ecuador and Puerto Rico in the process.
In October 2024, one of the nation’s biggest banks—Banco Bisa—kick-started its crypto custody services, allowing its members to store and transfer USDT, but no other crypto assets.
“USDT is more and more used as a cornerstone within several emerging markets economies,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino posted on X following news reports about Bolivia’s consideration.
The leading stablecoin by market cap, USDT ranks third among all crypto assets with a market capitalization of more than $184 billion.