Bolivia’s next president, Rodrigo Paz, plans to use blockchain technology to fight corruption in his government.
The Associated Press reported Monday that Paz is scheduled to take office on Nov. 8, defeating rival Jorge Quiroga 54.5% to 45.5%. Pass won Sunday’s runoff election on a centrist, pro-market message, according to the Associated Press, inheriting an economy strained by fuel shortages and a squeeze on the dollar.
Rodrigo Paz won Bolivia’s presidential run-off election on Sunday. sauce: AP
For cryptocurrency observers, Paz’s government plan includes two specific proposals related to digital assets and blockchain.
Blockchain joins Bolivia’s reform agenda
The first is a plan to utilize blockchain and smart contracts for public procurement. Cristiano Democratic Party’s official 2025 Government Platform Program promises the application of blockchain technology and the use of smart contracts to remove discretion from state purchases. The proposal aims to tackle corruption in the country’s purchasing by automating some contracting processes.
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The program will allow citizens to declare their crypto assets to a new foreign exchange stabilization fund seeded through an asset normalization drive that explicitly lists cryptocurrencies. The U.S. Treasury says these funds are reserves used to stabilize the currency and pay for essential imports when the U.S. dollar is in short supply. Including cryptocurrencies expands what governments can tax and quickly convert into hard currency without having to hold volatile tokens.
Paz looks like a crypto utility, but it’s not a Bitcoin (BTC) maxi. His platform frames blockchain as an anti-corruption tool and treats declared crypto assets as part of a one-time asset normalization drive to leverage the Currency Stability Fund. There is still no evidence of a policy to adopt BTC at the national level, hold it in reserves, or develop retail legalization.
Bolivia adopts digital currency payments
Cointelegraph has been tracking the transformation of Bolivia’s crypto policy since 2024. The country’s central bank, Banco Centrale de Bolivia, lifted the ban on the operation of virtual currency transactions in June 2024, authorized regulated electronic channels, and signaled the modernization of payments. After several months, the average monthly transaction value of digital assets has doubled compared to the average of the previous 18 months, the bank said.
The transition to the real economy continued. In October 2024, Banco Bisa became the first Bolivian bank to launch institutional USDt (USDT) custody. In March, it was reported that state oil company YPFB was considering using cryptocurrencies for energy imports amid the US dollar shortage. By September, local distributors of major car brands including Toyota, Yamaha and BYD had accepted USDT, reflecting increased experimentation on the part of sellers.
On July 31, the central bank also signed a memorandum of understanding with El Salvador, calling cryptocurrencies a “viable and reliable alternative” to fiat currencies and pledging to collaborate on policy and intelligence tools to modernize payments and increase inclusivity. The bank said monthly cryptocurrency trading volume reached $46.8 million by June 30, and $294 million since the beginning of the year.
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