Bolivia will integrate digital assets into its formal financial system, starting with stablecoins, as part of a modernization push that includes negotiating $9 billion in multilateral financing for public and private projects, and the scrapping of a wealth tax.
The measures were announced by Economy Minister Jose Gabriel Espinoza in a press conference last week, marking the first major policy shift since centrist President Rodrigo Paz took office on November 8.
Based on Espinoza’s comments, the government is planning to kick off its embrace of digital assets with stablecoins, a sub-sector that has been a priority for many countries. This will be followed by a broader integration of digital assets into the formal financial system.
“You can’t control crypto globally, so you have to recognize it and use it to your advantage,” said Espinoza, as reported by Reuters.
According to the Economy Minister, banks will be allowed to offer digital asset services so that they “begin to function as a legal tender payment instrument.” These services include savings accounts, credit cards, and loans.
Espinoza said a byproduct of this policy shift toward digital assets could be a boost to financial inclusion, in a country where, based on 2024 data from the World Bank Group, almost 45% of the population does not own an account with a financial institution or mobile-money-service provider.
This stat, along with general economic uncertainty related to the previous regimes, likely explains why digital asset adoption has surged in Bolivia over the past few years.
According to a recent Bloomberg report, amid a crisis that saw inflation hit levels not seen in over three decades (25%), digital asset payments surged fivefold in the country to nearly $300 million in the first half of 2025 alone.
Bolivia looks to crypto
This boom in interest in the space may have been what inspired the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with El Salvador’s National Commission for Digital Assets (CNAD) in August, with the aim of sharing knowledge and exchanging regulatory and technical expertise.
The regulators agreed to share their experience in blockchain intelligence tools, data analytics, risk analysis, and market oversight, as well as to jointly train their staff and exchange information on virtual asset service providers (VASPs) operating in both countries.
BCB Acting President Edwin Rojas Ulo, who signed the agreement with CNAD’s Juan Carlos Reyes García, said at the time that the move was part of the Bolivian government’s ongoing efforts to promote digital asset adoption in the country.
The MoU took effect immediately and will remain in force indefinitely.
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Source: https://coingeek.com/bolivia-ushers-digital-assets-into-financial-mainstream/
