Crypto Weekly: Bolivia Integrates Crypto, Tether Downgraded, Naver Acquires Upbit

Bolivia's Crypto Modernization

• 🇧🇴 The Bolivian government is integrating cryptocurrencies into its financial system as part of a modernization push, starting with stable coins.
• 🏦 Banks will be permitted to offer crypto services, enabling them to function as a legal tender payment instrument, including savings accounts, credit cards, and loans.
• 📈 Crypto adoption in Bolivia has surged, with customers using it as a hedge against the depreciating Boliviano.

Major Acquisitions and Stable Coin Launches

• 🤝 Naver Financial, a unit of South Korean internet giant Naver, will acquire Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, in an all-stock deal valued at over $10 billion.
• 💸 Swedish fintech firm Cler is launching a US dollar-backed stable coin, Cler USD, set to be available in 2026, as major payment companies deepen their involvement in digital assets.

Tether's Rating Downgrade

• 📉 S&P Global has downgraded its rating for Tether, the world's largest stable coin.
• ⚠️ The downgrade was attributed to an increase in higher-risk assets within Tether's reserves and persistent gaps in disclosure.
• 🗣️ Tether has stated it strongly disagrees with S&P's characterization of its reserves and disclosures.