Blockchain companies in Colombia may find a more receptive government in Bogotá after Abelardo De La Espriella won the country’s presidential election on a platform that includes making blockchain a standard technology for public procurement and state data traceability.
Colombia's New President Eyes Blockchain for State Overhaul
22 June 2026 - 20:01 CEST
By Ana Pereira
De La Espriella, a right-wing lawyer and political outsider, defeated leftist senator Iván Cepeda in a narrow runoff that marked a sharp turn away from the administration of outgoing President Gustavo Petro. While Cepeda ran as the candidate aligned with Petro's leftist political agenda, De La Espriella campaigned on deregulation, tax cuts and a smaller state.
De La Espriella won the run-off with 49.6% of the vote to 48.7% for Cepeda, according to the preliminary count. According to El Pais, the margin of roughly 0.96%, or about 250,000 votes, makes it one of the closest presidential elections in the country's recent history.
Blockchain plan
The president-elect has not laid out a detailed agenda for digital assets, but his programme includes a Blockchain 2030 plan aimed at creating a 'traceable government' by using blockchain as a standard for public procurement and state records.
The proposal is framed as an anti-corruption tool, designed to make public contracting easier to audit and harder to manipulate by recording procurement processes in traceable systems. It sits alongside a broader state-modernization agenda that includes using artificial intelligence at the tax authority to reduce evasion and reviewing inefficiencies across public agencies.
If executed, the programme could increase public-sector demand for blockchain infrastructure services, including identity tools, audit systems, procurement platforms and data-verification services. Still, the plan does not amount to a cryptocurrency policy. De La Espriella has not proposed rules for exchanges, stablecoins, tokenization or Bitcoin (BTC), leaving it unclear whether his support for blockchain in government would translate into a broader opening for Colombia's digital asset industry.
Regulatory backdrop
Colombia's crypto sector remains without a dedicated legal framework, but regulators and lawmakers have steadily expanded oversight. Congress is debating Bill 510 of 2025, which would establish registration and compliance requirements for virtual asset service providers.
At the same time, the country's tax authority issued in December 2025 requirements for crypto firms to report customer and transaction data under the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) starting with the 2026 tax year.
Crypto assets are legal to hold and trade in Colombia but remain outside a comprehensive dedicated law. They are not legal tender and authorities have historically treated them as digital or intangible assets rather than money.
Crypto market
Latin America recorded nearly $1.5tn in crypto transaction volume between Jul 2022 and Jun 2025, according to Chainalysis, with monthly activity reaching a record $87.7bn in Dec 2024. Demand has been driven by a mix of institutional adoption, currency volatility, remittances and growing use of dollar-backed stablecoins.
Colombia has emerged as one of the region's largest crypto markets.
Chainalysis estimates Colombia recorded $44.2bn in crypto transaction volume between Jul 2024 and Jun 2025, the fifth-largest in Latin America. Stablecoins have become an increasingly important part of that activity, reflecting growing demand for dollar-denominated savings and payment tools across the region.
