Bolivia Reverses Crypto-for-Fuel Plan Amid Energy Crisis

Bolivia’s Ministry of Trade and Imports has rejected a state-backed plan to make use of cryptocurrency for gasoline imports.

This transfer, which marks a surprising coverage reversal, indicators a retreat from the federal government’s current push to undertake digital property as a workaround for greenback shortages.

Bolivia Rejects Crypto-for-Fuel Scheme Amid Energy Sector Turmoil

The preliminary plan, introduced in March by Bolivia’s state-owned power big YPFB, aimed to make use of crypto to safe gasoline imports. This was in response to acute shortages of each US {dollars} and refined gasoline.

As reported by Reuters on March 13, the proposal had acquired authorities backing on the time.

But in a press release launched Tuesday, Director of Trade and Imports Marcos Duran clarified that YPFB is not going to be permitted to make use of crypto for worldwide transactions.

“YPFB must use Bolivia’s own resources and dollar-based financial transfers,” Duran stated.

Head of digital property at VanEck, Mathew Sigel, labels this a transparent U-turn on crypto coverage.

“U-Turn: Bolivia appears to back away from its crypto-for-fuel scheme,” Sigel quipped.

The crypto reversal comes after Russia’s Gazprom introduced its exit from Bolivia’s Azero gasoline mission, ending a 16-year involvement.

According to The Moscow Times, the departure displays the broader instability in Bolivia’s power sector, marked by falling gasoline manufacturing and elevated reliance on gasoline imports.

With dwindling overseas reserves, Bolivia has confronted mounting strain to diversify cost strategies for important imports. The crypto-for-fuel idea was seen as a daring, if dangerous, workaround to bypass the nation’s greenback liquidity disaster.

However, the Ministry’s rejection raises recent questions on coordination inside Bolivia’s authorities and the viability of crypto in sovereign commerce preparations, significantly in risky or resource-constrained economies.