The bitter fortnight: how the USDT dances to the rhythm of Venezuelan hyperinflation

By Canuto

In the economic chaos of Venezuela, where hyperinflation razes dreams and savings, the USDT emerges as a shield against the devaluation of the Bolivar. This educational and opinion history analyzes the fluctuation of its price in exchanges P2P for fortnights, driven by supply and demand in a country drowned by errard policies and shortage of dollars. Through figures like Maria, a tenacious entrepreneur, we expose the fictitious rates of the BCV in front of the real parallel market, criticizing a system that forces the refuge in crypto to survive and celebrate human resilience with technology as an ally.
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• USDT as a refuge: In hyperinflation, the USDT protects savings from the devalued bolivar, but is sold massively in fortnights to pay payrolls.
• Supply and demand command: Price drops in P2P reflect more sellers than buyers during salary payments; ignore this and lose.
• Fictional BCV rates: Official prices do not reflect reality; The parallel market is raw but honest, with 40-50%gaps.
• Empuera crypt: Faced with failed policies, the USDT is financial resistance for entrepreneurs, celebrating technology resilience.
• Economic lesson: Fundamentals such as supply/demand save in chaos; Real dollarization could sweeten bitter fortnights.

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Imagine Maria, a small bakery in Caracas. Every morning, while kneading the ham bread that its customers love, your mind is not in the recipe, but in the swing of the digital dollar. Maria is not an economist, but life in Venezuela has made her an involuntary expert in cryptocurrencies.

Your business survives thanks to the USDT, that stablecoin tied to the US dollar that acts as a lifeguard in a sea of ​​bolivars that sink as moving sand. But twice a month, around 1 and 15, the “bitter fortnight” arrives: the price of the USDT in the P2P exchanges like Binance falls a little, and Maria feels the puncture.

Because? Because supply and demand do not lieand in a country where the Bolivar is a cruel joke, the crypto becomes the true king of the daily economy.

We go in parts, as in a good arepa. In Venezuela, hyperinflation is not an abstract concept; It is a beast that devours the value of money. According to recent data, inflation reached 229% in May 2025, and Bolívar has lost more than 70% of its value only in recent months.

This is not new: since 2013, the country has lived a spiral of devaluation promoted by failed economic policies, international sanctions and a sickly dependence on oil that no longer yields as before. The result? Venezuelans flee from Bolívar as from the plague.

Instead of saving your savings in local banks, where money evaporates, they opt for USDT. This crypt, issued by Tether and supposedly Backed 1: 1 for dollars, it has become an essential tool for payments, remittances and even wages.

In fact, the use of Stablecoins in Venezuela grew by 110% year-on-year in 2024-2025, positioning the country as the 13th for global adoption of crypto. Platforms such as Binance P2P, Reserve and even the government itself (which has started using USDT to overcome the shortage of physical dollars) facilitate this.

Now, let’s enter the dynamics of the P2P. In exchanges such as Binance, users exchange USDT for bolivars directly in pairs, without banking intermediaries. The price is not fixed; fluctuates with local supply and demand. On a normal day, 1 USDT could cost around 150-220 bolivars, depending on the market.

But here comes the twist of the fortnight. Around 1 and 15 of each month, when companies pay payrolls, thousands of businesses such as Maria sell massively USDT to obtain bolivars. Because? Because employees still receive their salaries in bolivars, and labor laws demand payments in the national currency. There are not enough physical dollars in circulation (the government “rationa”), so the USDT acts as a temporary refuge.

During the month, entrepreneurs accumulate USDT buying with bolivars to protect themselves from inflation (which can exceed 10% monthly). But when you have to pay, they flood the P2P market with sales, lowering the USDT price in bolivars.

It is simple: more vendors that buyers mean that you get less bolivars for your USDT. In practical terms, this can mean a 1-5% drop in the price during those peaks, although it is not always dramatic.

Platforms such as P2P.army show historical graphics where these micro-dips are seen, aligned with the payment cycles, although the general volatility of the Bolívar Los Eclipsa.

And here the elephant enters the room: the prices of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV).

The BCV publishes daily official rates for the dollar, which in September 2025 were around 152.82 bolivars per USD. Sounds official, right? But it is practically fictional.

This rate is used for government transactions, controlled imports and minimum wages, but does not reflect reality. In the parallel market – the “VIP dollar” or “black dollar” -, the real price is much higher, reaching 218 bolivars per dollar in the same period.

Why the gap? The BCV tries to “anchor” the bolívar injecting dollars limited to the market, but with exhausted reserves and oil production, it cannot follow the rhythm of the real devaluation.

The parallel, on the other hand, is pure market: driven by scarcity, speculation and demand for remittances (representing 9% in crypto).

In 2025, this gap has grown to 40-50%, exacerbating inflation and forcing people to P2P for more realistic rates. For Maria, paying payrolls to the “BCV price” means using devalued bolivars, but obtaining them selling USDT to the parallel, an absurd dance that only benefits speculators.

In my opinion, this is a brutal testimony of how the crypto empowers common people in the midst of government chaos.

The Maduro regime has failed loudly to stabilize the economy, opting for controls that only feed the black market and corruption.

USDT is not perfect (Tether has faced scrutiny for his support and comes enormous competition from Stablcoins), but in Venezuela, it is an act of financial resistance.

Without him, businesses like María’s would collapse under the hyperinflation “of Super Mustache”, as the original post says. It is politically incorrect to say it, but while the BCV plays fiction, the P2P is the true economy: raw, volatile, but honest.

If the Government embraced real dollarization or open crypt, instead of pursuing exchanges, perhaps the fortnights were not so bitter. But until then, Maria will continue to sell USDT on 15, baking bread and dreaming with a bolivar that does not melt. Final lesson: In economics, ignore the foundations at your own risk – offer, demand and a little crypto can save you the day.

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