Venezuela Accelerates Shift to Cryptocurrency Payments Amid Hyperinflation
Date: 2025-11-12 Author: Henry Casey Categories: IN WORLD
Amid hyperinflation, which reached 270% in October 2025 according to the IMF, Venezuelans are increasingly using digital assets for everyday purchases. According to Italo Atencio, president of the National Supermarket Association, cryptocurrency payments will account for at least 10% of all grocery purchases by early 2026. Several large retail chains have already begun accepting cryptocurrency, and their number continues to grow.
Atencio noted that cryptocurrency is no longer a technological novelty and has become a real currency, ensuring business resilience in challenging economic conditions. To accelerate the adoption of digital payments in the country, retailers are collaborating with experts in blockchain and crypto education, including Anibal Garrido, a professor at Andrés Bello University, who is conducting staff training.
Back in 2019, Venezuela took the first steps toward integrating crypto payments. At the time, President Nicolás Maduro's initiative was supported by retail chains Traki, FarMarket, and FarmaRato. However, it was hyperinflation and strict US sanctions, which limited access to the dollar, that pushed businesses to more actively adopt digital currencies.
Fintech companies like Crixto are now creating solutions that allow cryptocurrency payments to be accepted even without specialized terminals. At the same time, local banks are working on systems for storing and servicing stablecoins, primarily USDT, making the payment process more secure and simple.
According to Reuters, in September 2025, the government began easing regulations for the use of stablecoins on currency exchanges, allowing private companies to conduct transactions with dollar-pegged assets. This made it possible to maintain production and trade despite external restrictions.
Some banks have already begun selling digital assets to companies for bolivars using government-approved crypto wallets. These assets are then used for domestic and international payments, as well as to circumvent sanctions.
While official statistics are unavailable, the analytics firm Ecoanalitica estimated the volume of private cryptocurrency transactions in July 2025 at approximately $119 million. This growth reflects the gradual transformation of digital assets into a fully-fledged part of the national economy.
Earlier, in mid-2024, it was announced that the oil company PDVSA had switched to payments in the stablecoin Tether, marking one of the first signs of a large-scale transition by government agencies to cryptocurrency technology.
Thus, Venezuela is rapidly moving toward making cryptocurrencies not a temporary solution, but an essential element of the country's financial system.
