Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of the most relevant crypto and economic news from Latin America over the past week. In this week’s edition, dollar scarcity is pushing Bolivia to pay for energy imports with crypto, Brazil is prioritizing the implementation of a crypto payment system for BRICS, and the Libra case is advancing in Argentina.
Dollar-Strapped Bolivia to Rely on Cryptocurrency for Energy Imports
Crypto is becoming relevant for the operation of the supply chain in several countries around the world. According to a spokesperson of YPFB, the largest state-owned energy company in Bolivia, the company is prepared to rely on cryptocurrency payments to bring fuel and other energy imports to the country.
YPFB has already designed a system capable of accounting for payments made in crypto due to the scarcity of dollars and dollar-denominated assets that Bolivia has been facing for some time.
The spokesperson, who stated that the system was put in place to support the national subsidy policy for fuel purchases, stated:
Brazil to Push Cryptocurrency as a Priority for International BRICS Trade
The agenda of Brazil as president of the BRICS bloc will feature an unlikely topic: crypto. Brazilian authorities are preparing to introduce proposals for the organization to consider cryptocurrency as a solution for international settlements both inside and outside the bloc.
Local journal “O Globo” noted that this topic would be a priority as Brazil is now the President of BRICS, taking the mantle from Russia. The proposal would support the need to expedite financial transactions among group members, and reduce the dependence on foreign currencies like the U.S. dollar.
While the idea of a BRICS common currency was floated before, with economists like Jim Rickards predicting it would leverage gold to undermine the dollar, this has not been suggested. Instead, BRICS is focusing on designing an efficient payment system to make use of digital national currencies or even stablecoins, which are already being used in international settlements, though informally.
