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Bolivia turns to crypto for energy imports amid dollar, fuel shortages

Bolivia's state energy firm YPFB will use cryptocurrency to pay for energy imports amid a painful shortage of dollars and fuel in the landlocked South American nation, a company spokesperson and a government official told Reuters on Wednesday. The country is battling a dangerous slide in foreign currency reserves afters years of dwindling exports of natural gas, which has sparked off a fuel crisis in the country with regular long lines at gas stations and scattered protests. A spokesperson for state-run energy firm YPFB told Reuters that a system had been put in place to use cryptocurrency to purchase fuel imports after a government approval to use digital assets to help meet demand.