Venezuela adopts USDT for trade under U.S. sanctions

Venezuela has expanded the use of cryptocurrencies for commercial transactions amid financial restrictions imposed by the United States. According to Reuters, since June, authorities in Caracas have allowed the use of the stablecoin USDT (Tether) in currency exchanges for private companies that no longer have access to dollars through traditional systems.

Sources cited by the news agency indicated that this marks a significant change in how the government manages foreign exchange flows. The decision follows U.S. sanctions that have limited Venezuela’s access to dollar reserves and disrupted imports of raw materials.

The state-owned oil company PDVSA has already been using USDT for certain commercial transactions, according to the same sources. The shift accelerated after the U.S. Treasury Department issued a restricted license to Chevron, allowing limited oil exports but prohibiting payments to the Venezuelan government.

This situation has pushed authorities to increase the use of digital assets to support economic operations. Venezuela thus becomes one of the countries adopting cryptocurrencies on a large scale for international trade, in a context where financial restrictions block access to the U.S. dollar.