Economist Proposes National USD Stablecoin for Venezuela

Economist Alejandro Grisanti has proposed issuing a national U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin to ease Venezuela’s currency controls and expand dollar access for small and medium-sized enterprises excluded from the official dollar allocation system. The proposal appears in a recent note from Ecoanalitica, the economic consultancy Grisanti founded.

The plan would run the token on blockchain rails while integrating it with the formal banking system. The stablecoin would be subject to strict anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer controls, include traceability and operational controls, and allow shared audits with international partners. Grisanti also proposed controlled cash imports to let companies without U.S. bank accounts transact in dollars locally.

Grisanti described the mechanism as a complement to the existing foreign-exchange auction system and wrote the goal is to deliver dollars to sectors excluded from the auction-based distribution that routes currency through private and state banks, reducing arbitrage and speculative opportunities.

Venezuela has experienced de facto dollarization and growing stablecoin use since 2025. Market exchange rates for dollars have remained well above the Central Bank of Venezuela’s official rate, and some businesses have used crypto rails to bypass formal foreign-exchange allocations.

Grisanti suggested the stablecoin could later be tied into banks’ transactional systems, enabling settlements in the token between banks. In October, Rodolfo Gasparri, president of payments processor Conexus, which intermediates about 40% of the country’s electronic transfers, noted a stablecoin-based settlement system was in early-stage research and development; no further public updates have followed.

Ecoanalitica framed the issuance as a way to broaden access to foreign currency and strengthen transparency in foreign-currency transactions. The note calls for tight regulation, audit cooperation with international partners and AML/KYC mechanisms to limit illicit-finance risks.

The proposal remains a policy recommendation and would require approval and coordination among government agencies, banks, regulators and international counterparts before any implementation could begin.