Bolivia’s Crypto Trading Soars 100% Following Bitcoin Ban Lift

Key Takeaways

• Banco Central de Bolivia reported a 100% rise in average monthly trading volumes between July and September 2024
• In total, $48.6 million was traded over the last three months, which surpasses the combined total from the previous six months.

Bolivia has experienced a sharp increase in cryptocurrency trading activity since lifting its blanket ban on crypto in June. The country’s central bank, Banco Central de Bolivia (BCB), reported a 100% rise in average monthly trading volumes between July and September 2024, with $15.6 million in virtual assets traded per month. This is a significant increase compared to the previous 18-month period, where activity was much lower.

In total, $48.6 million was traded over the last three months, which surpasses the combined total from the previous six months. The central bank’s data shows that most of these transactions involved stablecoins, and the overall number of crypto transactions also grew by 141% during the same period.

Earlier this year, the BCB President,Edwin Rojas Ulo, stated that dollar-pegged stablecoins like USDT, present different advantages to users without access to U.S. dollars.

This surge follows the BCB’s decision to lift the country’s long-standing ban on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on June 25. Bolivia first imposed the ban in 2014 but reversed it earlier this year, allowing banks to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions through approved electronic platforms.

 In December 2020, the country banned financial institutions from using, authorizing, or intermediating payments to acquire or sell digital assets, blocking crypto from entering Bolivia’s markets. Later in June 2024, the country revoked the ban.

In July 2024, Edwin Rojas Ulo declared that the decentralization of crypto assets would “favor commercial and private activities for the purchase of services and, of course, satisfy different needs.” 

The new regulation has also seen six more financial institutions register to offer cryptocurrency services, a move that Rojas Ulo believes will help Bolivians access international trade and financial services more easily. “Since the regulation came into effect, the population has an alternative mechanism for international transfers and e-commerce payments,” he added.