Venezuela Arrests 20 Over Parallel Exchange Rate, 38% Below Official Rate

Venezuela’s government has taken a significant step in its ongoing battle against the parallel exchange rate by arresting at least 20 moderators of the popular Instagram page “Monitor Dólar.” The moderators were accused of terrorism, money laundering, and fraud for publishing the widely used parallel exchange rate. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello reported the arrests, which began with night-time raids on May 29. This move revives tactics last seen during the country’s 2013-18 hyper-inflation era and marks the strongest effort in years to force businesses and citizens back to the central bank’s official bolívar-to-dollar exchange rate.

Security agents seized phones and laptops while detaining the account’s operators, who together managed 1.3 million followers. Cabello stated that the investigation had been conducted “in silence” and promised more arrests. Simultaneously, officials from the national tax agency began surprise inspections, checking that supermarkets and pharmacies price goods at the official rate, which is currently 38% below the freely quoted dollar.

The widening gap between the official and unofficial exchange rates is a by-product of a currency crunch. U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil were tightened again in April, and a 25% tariff on the country’s crude is due to start this summer, limiting the dollars the central bank can sell to defend the bolívar. The unofficial rate has risen 160% in the past year, while the official peg climbed 91%. Merchants say the difference is now too large to ignore; many already mark prices in dollars in WhatsApp groups before converting to bolívars at checkout.

The crackdown risks accelerating an unexpected workaround: stablecoins. Venezuelans moved about $20 billion through crypto rails in 2024, a 110% year-on-year rise, with 47% of transfers under $10,000 executed in USDT or USDC. Stablecoins offer Venezuelans a way to preserve their wealth and transact in a more stable currency. Peer-to-peer traders on Binance and Telegram groups already quote rates every few minutes, a process almost impossible for authorities to police.

President Nicolás Maduro’s administration has battled public exchange-rate information before. In 2015, the central bank sued U.S.-based DolarToday and periodically blocked the site, but Venezuelans simply shifted to social networks and group chats. Analysts expect a similar “whac-a-mole” pattern, only faster because digital dollars are clear in seconds.

The legal offensive also raises free-speech questions. Rights groups note that charging civilians with terrorism for publishing prices violates due-process guarantees under Venezuela’s 1999 constitution. The government counters that unofficial quotes “sow panic” and fuel speculation. While the next move from the National Superintendency of Crypto Assets (SUNACRIP) remains unclear, the agency is under audit after a 2024 corruption scandal. Lawyers fear tighter controls on local exchanges could follow.

For now, shopkeepers face a dilemma: sell at the state rate and take losses or risk fines for using the market rate. Some compromise by accepting stablecoins outright, bypassing bolívars altogether. Whether the clampdown can narrow the spread depends on the central bank’s capacity to inject dollars, which is difficult when sanctions bite and oil revenue falls.

If the gap persists, history suggests Venezuelans will double down on digital dollars, entrenching an unofficial system the state struggles to tax or monitor. In that scenario, the arrests may prove a footnote in a larger story: the irreversible migration of a crisis-weary nation to stablecoin rails beyond the reach of Caracas.