Venezuela's USDT oil settlement: The double-edged sword of stablecoins and global insights The recent story in Venezuela has forced me to delve into the "dual use" of stablecoins ——It is both a tool for evading sanctions and a financial lifeline for ordinary people, but it has exposed profound contradictions in the failure of the system. Nearly 80% of Venezuela's oil revenue is settled in USDT, which is not only a case of digital currency, but also a reflection of the global financial system's transformation. As a major oil country, Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA (Petr ó leos de Venezuela S.A.) has long relied on oil exports to sustain its economy. But since 2017, the United States has imposed severe sanctions on Venezuela, cutting off its US dollar banking channels. After the traditional banking system was blocked, PDVSA was unable to settle oil payments properly, resulting in export disruptions. According to economist Asdr ú bal Oliveros' estimation, by the end of 2025, approximately 80% of Venezuela's oil revenue (about $12 billion annually) will be settled through stablecoins such as USDT. This means that buyers (such as Chinese refineries) can directly transfer USDT to designated wallets, bypassing the SWIFT system and Bank of America, to avoid funds being frozen. The data from Tether, the issuer of USDT, indirectly confirms this: Venezuela's USDT trading volume ranks among the top in Latin America, even surpassing some developed countries. Why has USDT become the preferred choice? Simply put, it is the embodiment of the 'digital dollar'. USDT is anchored to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio, with low volatility and easy cross-border settlement. More importantly, it runs on blockchains such as Tron or Ethereum, with fast transaction speed, low fees, and no need for traditional banking intermediaries. Since 2020, PDVSA has been requiring buyers to hold encrypted wallets and convert cash into USDT through intermediaries. This mechanism has helped Venezuela maintain its oil exports and supported the country's finances. In a sanction environment, USDT is like an "invisible key" that unlocks the locked financial door. This reflects the use of stablecoins for "evading sanctions": it provides sanctioned countries with breathing space in global trade and avoids direct impacts of US dollar hegemony. But the other side of USDT is that it has become the "financial lifeline" for ordinary people. Venezuela's vicious inflation has persisted for many years, with the Bolivar currency depreciating by as much as 480%, and people's paper money being almost worthless. Imagine: a 71 year old grandmother uses USDT to pay for property fees, small vendors use it to settle daily transactions, and even salaries are paid in stablecoins. According to the Chainalysis report, Venezuela ranks among the top ten in the world for cryptocurrency adoption, with nearly half of small transactions using stablecoins. Why? Because USDT provides value stability and cross-border convenience. In the context of the collapse of the banking system and strict capital controls, it has become a 'parallel currency'. The public obtains USDT through platforms such as Binance for remittance, shopping, and savings. This is not just technological innovation, but also a survival strategy. In places where systems fail, stablecoins fill the vacuum and help millions of people escape poverty traps. However, this exposes the "dual use" contradiction of stablecoins. Although USDT is decentralized on the surface, it is still fundamentally controlled by centralization. Tether must comply with the regulations of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in the United States and be able to freeze wallets at any time. On January 11, 2026, Tether froze USDT worth $182 million, involving five Tron wallets believed to be related to oil trading in Venezuela. This happened after Maduro's arrest, and the pressure from the United States intensified. Over the past two years, Tether has frozen 41 wallets related to Venezuela, totaling billions of dollars. This means that although USDT helps to evade sanctions, it may also become a "trump card". It is not a true sovereign currency, but a "dog chain with ropes" - useful but controllable. In contrast, Bitcoin's decentralized design (no CEO, no freezing function) is more like a "key to freedom", but its volatility makes it unsuitable for daily settlement. What are the global implications of this case? Firstly, it proves that cryptocurrencies are reshaping geopolitics. Russia, Iran and other countries are also exploring similar paths, using USDT or their own stablecoins to settle energy trade. But the Tether freeze reminds us that centralized stablecoins are vulnerable to regulatory influences. In the future, more countries may shift towards decentralized alternatives such as innovation outside of DAI or USDC. Secondly, it highlights the resilience of the US dollar hegemony. The United States indirectly controls part of the "shadow economy" through Tether (whose reserves exceed US $110 billion in US treasury bond bonds). Finally, for investors like me, this is an opportunity: the stablecoin market will diverge, and privacy coins and DeFi protocols (such as Monero or Layer2 solutions) may rise. But risks coexist - regulatory storms can come at any time. In short, the USDT story in Venezuela is a fable of the crypto era: technology empowers the weak, but also exposes weaknesses. We need a more mature ecosystem to drive a truly decentralized financial revolution. As an angel investor, I am optimistic about the potential of Web3, but I also remind everyone to be cautious when investing and understand the essence of a double-edged sword. Welcome to discuss, what do you think? USDT Venezuela stablecoin cryptocurrency sanctions Xue Manzi