Bolivia's fourth largest bank launches USDT trading and cross-border remittance services: accelerating the development of stablecoins

Bolivia, a South American country, is accelerating the adoption of Stable Coin. Bisa Bank, the fourth largest bank in Bolivia, recently announced the launch of Stable Coin services, becoming the first bank in the country to offer USDT trading services, allowing customers to use its services to buy, sell and hold USDT, as well as make remittances and cross-border payments. According to Bitcoin.com, the introduction of Stable Coin services by Bisa Bank is supported by Yvette Espinoza, the chairwoman of the Bolivian Financial System Supervision Authority (ASFI). She said that this is a custodial service that allows customers to perform various operations safely, reducing the risk of unstable interactions in the Cryptocurrency market. For customers who purchase 200 to 10,000 USDT daily, Bisa Bank charges a handling fee of $5 to $15, while the handling fee for transferring USDT to international accounts is nearly $40. This is an attractive option for those who want to make Stable Coin payments with the support of banks. Franco Urquidi, Vice President of Bisa Bank's Business, said that these operations will be completed through Bisa Bank accounts, which means that the operations are secure. The introduction of USDT services by Bisa Bank is a great help to Bolivia, which lacks channels for the entry of US dollars. For a long time, the exchange rate between Bolivia and the US dollar has been fixed, which has led to speculation attacks related to the scarcity of the US dollar. Last year, the Central Bank of Bolivia even sold US dollars directly to citizens to soothe the local market. Bolivia has embraced Cryptocurrency. In 2014, Bolivia announced a ban on Cryptocurrency, prohibiting any non-Bolivian government issuance or regulation of coins. At that time, the Bolivian government stated that using BTC was illegal, and the Central Bank of the country pointed out that this was to protect the country's coins and citizens from the harm of uncontrolled coins. However, Bolivia began to change its position on encryption assets in 2024. The country's Central Bank lifted the ban on Cryptocurrency payments, allowing financial entities to use digital assets for transactions to achieve modernization of payment systems. The report released by the Central Bank of Bolivia on September 27th pointed out that since the lifting of the ban on Cryptocurrency payments, the virtual asset volume of the country has increased by 100%. During the period from July to September, the monthly average Cryptocurrency volume in the country reached US$15.6 million. However, although Bolivia's attitude towards Cryptocurrency has softened, the country has not yet implemented a formal tax framework for Cryptocurrency transactions.