Venezuelan authorities plan to accelerate the adoption of USDT as a response to US sanctions. State oil company PDVSA is preparing to increase the use of the USDT stablecoin for crude and fuel oil exports. Accelerating the adoption of USDT aims to minimize the risk of retaining profits from oil sales in foreign bank accounts. Will Venezuela switch to Tether for more than just hydrocarbon exports?
Accelerating USDT adoption as Venezuela's response to further US sanctions
Venezuela is a country whose entire economy is based on the extraction and sale of crude oil. Although this country was a veritable El Dorado for decades (especially the 1970s and 1980s), socialism and the lack of prudent management of funds led it to total bankruptcy and hyperinflation. Currently, Venezuela is bankrupt with a still thriving oil industry. The United States decided to reimpose sanctions on the country, as reported by Reuters on Monday, April 22. The U.S. Treasury gave PDVSA customers and suppliers until May 31 to complete the transaction.
PDVSA, which is a state-owned company, has decided to respond to US sanctions and plans to accelerate the adoption of USDT. Thanks to this, the company wants to minimize the risk of retaining profits from the sale of crude oil. Interestingly, when the United States eased sanctions on Venezuela in 2023, the country exported an astronomical amount of almost 700,000 barrels of oil per day, of which 65% of imports went to China and 19% to the United States.
Will Wenezule accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrencies also in other sectors of the economy?
Cryptocurrency adoption in Latin America is at a very high level. Although the example of El Salvador is definitely the most striking, other countries are also actively introducing solutions based on cryptocurrencies. Venezuela is known for the fact that this society began to massively shift its savings into digital assets to stop hyperinflation. In Nicolas Maduro's country, both BTC and USDT are very popular.
It is worth noting that so far it is citizens who use Tether to somehow bypass US sanctions and use USD. Today it turns out that the government company PDVSA has exactly the same plans. If the authorities see that using digital assets gives an advantage and allows avoiding sanctions, the acceleration of USDT adoption will also be visible in other sectors of the economy.
