Bolivia, a landlocked country in South America, has turned to cryptocurrencies in order to pay for energy imports, according to a Wednesday report by Reuters.
YPFB, Bolivia's state-owned energy enterprise, has made such a move amid dollar shortages.
The country's foreign currency reserves have collapsed, with people struggling to buy U.S. dollars. Savers are forced to pay a high premium in order to buy the dollars on the thriving black market.
The depleted foreign currency reserves have led to a skyrocketing inflation rate, which is now one of the highest in the region.
The country is currently facing an extremely severe fuel crisis. Some Bolivian drivers have to wait in long lines for days in order to be able to buy some diesel.
Bolivia, which has been a historically poor country despite once being the second-biggest producer of natural gas on the continent, is now nearing an economic collapse.
The country experienced a brief economic revival because of the commodity boom in the 2000s under socialist President Evo Morales.
However, its commodities-based economic model ended up imploding, with its gas exports halving over the past decade.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov