Venezuela's cryptocurrency activity more than doubled in a year. As dollar-linked stablecoins are used to store value and for remittances and payments amid economic instability and political upheaval, it posted the fastest growth among major Latin American markets.

Cryptopolitan, citing Chainalysis data, said Venezuela's cryptocurrency activity totalled $39.1 billion in the year to June 30. That was up 107.2 percent from a year earlier, the highest rise among Latin America's five biggest markets. Over the same period, Mexico grew 25.5 percent, Argentina 15.3 percent and Colombia 13.8 percent.

Brazil had the largest market at $252.5 billion, followed by Argentina at $88.5 billion, Mexico at $77.6 billion, Venezuela at $39.1 billion and Colombia at $29.1 billion. Total cryptocurrency activity in Latin America rose 9.8 percent to $593.8 billion, ranking sixth among global regions. Brazil also took first place in Chainalysis' 2026 global crypto adoption index.

Venezuela's surge became more pronounced after political upheaval in January. The U.S. military arrested then-President Nicolas Maduro (니콜라스 마두로) on Jan. 3 and transferred him to the United States. After that, a push grew in Venezuela to seek dollar-based cryptocurrencies instead of the bolivar. Chainalysis said that over one quarter after Maduro's arrest, crypto outflows from Venezuela increased 891.7 percent from the previous quarter.

The increase in domestic peer-to-peer stablecoin activity also surged in early February to about 65 points higher than the three largest markets in Latin America, before returning to the regional average trend in March. Still, it is difficult to explain the entire annual increase with just one political event. Chainalysis analysed that "in Venezuela, cryptocurrency has long been used as a hedge against currency depreciation and as a means for remittances and access to foreign currency."