Bolivia's newly elected President Rodrigo Paz plans to use blockchain technology to address government corruption in the country.
The Associated Press reported on Monday that Paz defeated his opponent Jorge Quiroga with 54.5% to 45.5% and will be inaugurated on November 8. According to the AP, Paz won Sunday’s runoff with a centrist, pro-market message, taking over an economy pressured by fuel shortages and a lack of dollars.
For cryptocurrency observers, Paz's government plans include two specific proposals related to digital assets and blockchain.
The first is a plan to use blockchain and smart contracts in public procurement. The official 2025 government platform project of the Christian Democratic Party (Partido Demócrata Cristiano) promises to apply blockchain technology and use smart contracts to eliminate discretion in national procurement. This proposal aims to tackle corruption in national procurement by automating parts of the contracting process.
The second proposal allows citizens to declare crypto assets to a new foreign exchange stabilization fund, which is initiated by clearly listing cryptocurrency assets for compliance. According to the U.S. Treasury, such funds are reserve pools used to stabilize currency and pay for essential imports during times of dollar scarcity. Including cryptocurrencies expands the range of what the government can tax or quickly convert into hard currency without holding volatile tokens.
Paz appears to have a pragmatic attitude towards cryptocurrencies, but he is not a Bitcoin (BTC) extremist. His platform positions blockchain as an anti-corruption tool and views declared crypto assets as part of a one-time asset compliance push to provide capital for the currency stabilization fund. There is currently no evidence of a national-level adoption of BTC, holding it as a reserve, or policies to launch retail legalization.
Cointelegraph has been tracking Bolivia's shift in cryptocurrency policy since 2024. The country's central bank, the Central Bank of Bolivia, lifted its operational ban on cryptocurrency trading in June 2024, authorizing regulated electronic channels and marking a modernization of payments. The bank stated that a few months later, the monthly average trading volume of digital assets doubled compared to the average of the previous 18 months.
This shift has extended into the real economy. In October 2024, Banco Bisa launched an institutional USDT custody service, becoming a pioneer among Bolivian banks. In March, it was reported that the state-owned oil company YPFB was exploring the use of cryptocurrencies for energy imports amid dollar scarcity. By September, major automotive brands' local dealers, including Toyota, Yamaha, and BYD, were accepting USDT, reflecting an increase in merchant-side experimentation.
On July 31, the central bank signed a memorandum with El Salvador, stating that cryptocurrencies are a "viable and reliable alternative" to fiat currency and committing to collaborate on policy and intelligence tools to modernize payments and promote inclusivity. The bank reported that as of June 30, monthly cryptocurrency trading volume had reached $46.8 million, totaling $294 million year-to-date.
Related: UK tax authorities ramp up efforts against unpaid tax revenue, doubling the number of cryptocurrency warning letters.
Original: “Bolivia's New President Supports Using Blockchain to Tackle Government Corruption”
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