USDT drives Venezuela’s $17.9B crypto volume in Q1 2026

TRM Labs’ Q1 2026 Global Crypto Adoption Index found that USDT made up 90.2% of Binance P2P trading listings paired with the Venezuelan bolivar and that retail crypto volume in Venezuela reached $17.9 billion in the quarter. The report said stablecoins were widely used for savings and everyday transactions.

The shift to USDT on peer-to-peer markets accounted for much of the growth. TRM Labs reported Venezuela moved to the 17th largest cryptocurrency market in Q1 2026 from 22nd a year earlier. Data from Binance’s P2P order book showed just 1.9% of listings paired bitcoin with the bolivar.

TRM Labs identified three local conditions that support stablecoin use: severe currency instability that drives residents to dollar-denominated assets to protect savings and purchasing power; limited access for banks and other formal institutions to international payment networks; and a well-established parallel foreign currency market that operates mainly in stablecoins.

The report linked increased stablecoin use to recent political change, reporting that dollar-pegged tokens helped Venezuelans manage geopolitical uncertainty after President Nicolás Maduro left office in January.

Economists and market participants referenced in the report proposed issuing a national stablecoin to address foreign currency shortages and market instability. The report said proponents view a government-backed stablecoin as a way to expand access to dollar liquidity for sectors often excluded from formal dollar markets and to reduce reliance on informal parallel markets.

Stablecoins are digital tokens designed to hold a stable value relative to a fiat currency, most commonly the U.S. dollar. In Venezuela, dollar-pegged tokens have been used for payroll, remittances, local commerce and personal savings as residents seek to avoid losses from rapid bolivar devaluation.

TRM Labs described Venezuela’s crypto use as driven by domestic economic and political factors rather than by speculative investment cycles seen elsewhere. The Q1 2026 data show a pronounced user preference for USDT on peer-to-peer platforms and broad integration of stablecoins into daily financial routines in a country with constrained access to traditional dollar channels.