The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) authorized US companies and professionals to provide legal and financial advice to the Government of Venezuela for a possible restructuring of its foreign debt, but imposed a clear prohibition: these services cannot be paid with cryptocurrencies.
General License No. 58, issued on May 5, 2026, expressly prohibits payments from being made in digital currencyvirtual currencies or digital tokens issued by the Venezuelan Government, including the Petro.
This general license does not authorize:
Payment terms for services provided under this general license that are not commercially reasonable, that involve debt swaps or payments in gold, or that are denominated in digital currency, virtual currency, or digital tokens issued by, for or on behalf of the Government of Venezuela, including the petro.
Department of the Treasury – Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
This restriction seeks Prevent the government from using crypto assets to avoid sanctionsa practice that Washington has denounced since 2018. In addition to cryptocurrencies, the license also vetoes other payment methods.
Debt exchanges are prohibited (debt swaps), payments in gold and any conditions that are not commercially reasonable. The measure is part of a controlled relief of sanctions.
US authorities also established prohibitions on any transactions by persons “located in the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Cuba or the People’s Republic of China, or by any entity owned, controlled by or engaged in a joint venture with such persons.”
Debt advice and renegotiation
OFAC now allows US advisors to help the Venezuelan Government evaluate and prepare the restructuring of its million-dollar foreign debt, which exceeds 170 billion dollarsaccording to a report by The New York Times.
However, the license only authorizes advisory and consulting services. It does not allow closing definitive agreements or negotiating directly with creditors without additional approvals.
Experts consider that this opening seeks to facilitate an orderly debt renegotiation process, but with strong safeguards. Service providers must send a copy of the contracts to OFAC within ten business days.
The decision comes after the departure of Nicolás Maduro from power and in the midst of a progressive relaxation of sanctions, especially in the oil sector. Despite authorization, strict limits remain.
The license does not unlock assets or authorize transactions with specific sanctioned entities, except within the limited scope of this advice. Analysts indicate that a successful restructuring will require significant debt relief to make the Venezuelan economy viable and attract new investment.
It is important to remember that the petro has been sanctioned by the United States since 2018, under the first term of today’s President Donald Trump, as reported by CriptoNoticias.
With this General License 58, the United States marks a balance since it opens a door to the economic recovery of Venezuela, but keeps closed the avenues that it considers risky to avoid its financial controls.