Bolivia is retracting and limited use of cryptocurrencies in the purchase of fuel

By Hannah Pérez

After changing the laws in March to allow the state of oil, YPFB, to use cryptocurrencies for the payment of fuels, the Bolivia government has now signed a new decree that seeks to counteract that measure.

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• Bolivia is rear and now wants to use cryptocurrencies in fuel agreements.
• The government had allowed the adoption of cryptocurrencies by the state of oil YPFB.
• However, it was retracted in a new decree that exempts YPFB from using these assets.

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After opening at the beginning of the year to the use of cryptocurrencies as an alternative payment mechanism for energy imports, the Bolivia government has now decided to back their measures.

The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, has signed an executive decree that limits the use of cryptocurrencies for the purchase of fuel. This is the Supreme Decree No. 5399, dated May 24, 2025, which It proposes to exempt Bolivian Fiscal Petroleum Company (YPFB) from the state company to carry out operations with digital assets.

In March, the Bolivia government had published a decree that authorized YPFB to opt for cryptocurrencies for gasoline, diesel and additives import operations. Composed of five articles, Decree No. 5348, then published in the Official Gazette, was an answer to the challenges in the South American nation for the shortage of dollars and fuel.

As part of that measure, the decree had modified other articles in order to establish the treatment of financial expenses for cryptocurrency operations. The change of rules sought to ensure that public companies could comply with their contractual obligations contracted in foreign currency despite the shortage of currency.

However, this month’s new decree seems to reverse these measures. In particular, the language of the legal document indicates that YPFB will not be obliged to use these types of assets for commercial fuel operations, leaving it exempt from the previous decrees related to the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment mechanism.

State -owned state company to use cryptocurrencies

The last measure of the Bolivia government is part of a series of economic actions aimed at curbing speculation in cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binanceaccording to local news media.

Last week, President Arce announced 11 economic measures and the approval of 7 supreme decrees to “Contain price speculation, smuggling conversely and normalize fuel supply“the ABI agency shared. That newspaper identified the decree as a “prohibition” to the use of cryptocurrencies for fuel payments.

“YPFB has not performed any operation with cryptoactive; However, much speculation has been generated around that issue, which affects expectations about the exchange rate. This measure eliminates that distortion”, Clarified the head of state, according to coverage.

According to reports, the price of the parallel digital dollar on platforms such as Binance It fell to the local currency, and in relation to the physical currency, after the ads. The SABLOIN USDT, linked to the US dollar, is frequently negotiated above its price in the physical market in Latin America countries due to financial instability and inflation problems.

Days before, the president of YPFB, Armin Dorgathen, had ruled out the use of cryptocurrencies in the purchase of fuel, citing the complexities inherent to an unregulated market and the little interest of companies in signing agreements with these tokens.

“YPFB, today, is not using cryptoactives and is not something we are thinking about doing it in the short term (…) Most companies still do not accept it as a form of payment, so it is unlikely that we can use them as a form of payment for fuel”, Explained Dorgathen, according to coverage.

Bolivia and its relationship with cryptocurrencies

The tone of the comment differs from what a company spokesman had said Reuters In March, who said then that YPFB had not used these assets until then but planned to do so thanks to the decree signed by the Executive.

After prohibiting cryptocurrencies for years, the Central Bank of Bolivia (BCB) was more flexible last June when it made the historical decision to reverse a previous resolution that restricted trade and payments with cryptocurrencies nationwide.

Following the regulatory change, both residents and entities of the country, including the BISA BANKbased in La Paz, they have begun to integrate assets such as the Stablecoin USDT, linked to the dollar, as a savings mechanism and to expedite cross -border transfers.

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Hannah Estefanía Pérez / Diariobitcoin

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