Sanctions drive the development of Venezuela's cryptocurrency economy, as the U.S. intensifies pressure on the country
On December 11, according to Decrypt, the latest report from TRM Labs shows that nearly a decade of economic isolation, international sanctions, and economic collapse have made cryptocurrency (especially USDT) a core part of daily life in Venezuela. The country heavily relies on informal peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading platforms that lack strict KYC measures, with a single website accounting for 38% of Venezuela's IP address network traffic.
Ari Redbord, former U.S. Treasury official and TRM's global policy director, stated that years of sanctions and the loss of banking services have pushed the Venezuelan state and economy toward alternative channels. While cryptocurrency has a humanitarian impact on populations lacking stable financial options, the U.S. also needs to limit its value as a tool for evading sanctions.
Recently, tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela have escalated sharply, with President Trump refusing to rule out the possibility of sending troops to overthrow the Maduro government, and the U.S. government has also seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
