Bolivian Ministry of Trade and Imports has rejected a provincial support plan to use cryptocurrency for fuel imports.
The move marks a surprising policy reversal, and a setback from the government’s recent push to adopt digital assets as a workaround for the dollar shortage.
Bolivia rejects schemes for fuel and fuel amid turmoil in the energy sector
The first plan announced in March by Bolivian state-owned energy giant YPFB aimed to use crypto to secure fuel imports. This was in response to an acute shortage of both the US dollar and refined fuel.
As Reuters reported on March 13, the proposal was supported by the government at the time.
However, in a statement released Tuesday, Trade and Import Director Marcos Duran revealed that YPFB will not be permitted to use crypto in international transactions.
“YPFB must use Bolivia’s own resources and dollar-based financial transfers,” Duran said.
Mathew Sigel’s Vaneck’s digital assets director labels this with a clear U-turn on crypto policy.
“U-turn: Bolivia appears to be retreating away from the scheme encrypted for fuel,” Siegel said.
