Toyosa adds BTC alongside USDT for Toyota purchases

Toyosa has introduced Bitcoin as a payment option for Toyota vehicle purchases in Bolivia, expanding its digital-asset checkout service one year after launching USDT payments.
Summary

• Toyosa now accepts Bitcoin for Toyota purchases, adding BTC alongside bolivianos, dollars, and USDT payments.
• Towerbank provides transaction processing, while BitGo supplies institutional wallet infrastructure, security, and traceability for payments.
• Bolivia removed its crypto payment-channel ban in 2024, enabling regulated financial institutions to expand services.
• Toyosa introduced USDT payments in 2025, supported by BitGo, Towerbank, and Tether infrastructure for customers.
• BitGo lists Expocruz in Santa Cruz among its September 2026 events, confirming its local presence.

Eju TV reported that the company unveiled the Bitcoin service on Sept. 18 at Expocruz 2026 in Santa Cruz, where Toyosa said customers could now choose BTC alongside bolivianos, U.S. dollars and Tether's USDT when purchasing a Toyota.

BitGo confirmed the arrangement on Sept. 20, saying BitGo Bank & Trust supplied the institutional-grade digital asset wallet infrastructure behind Toyosa's Bitcoin payment service. Its event calendar places the company at Expocruz from Sept. 18 through Sept. 21, providing separate confirmation of its presence in Santa Cruz during the launch.

JUST IN: Toyota vehicles can now be purchased with Bitcoin in Bolivia

TOYOSA unveiled the new payment option at Expocruz 2026, with BitGo Bank & Trust providing the institutional-grade digital asset wallet infrastructure alongside payments in bolivianos, USD and USDT. pic.twitter.com/mlfEJ7b5Se --- crypto.news (@cryptodotnews) September 19, 2026
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Toyosa Bitcoin payments build on its 2025 USDT rollout

Toyosa's Bitcoin service follows a crypto-payment system introduced at Expocruz one year earlier. In September 2025, Toyosa worked with BitGo, Towerbank and Tether to let customers purchase vehicles, parts and services using USDT.

The original system connected BitGo's wallet and custody infrastructure with Toyosa's point-of-sale environment. According to BitGo, customers could use USDT for high-value purchases while the digital-asset infrastructure handled wallet security and settlement support.

Toyosa's existing online payment page still describes the USDT workflow. Customers first obtain a quotation, select a supported blockchain network and scan a QR code from a crypto wallet. The page lists Ethereum and Tron among supported USDT networks and identifies Towerbank as the financial partner and BitGo as the blockchain technology provider.

The public page reviewed on Sept. 20 had not yet been updated with a separate Bitcoin checkout guide, even though Toyosa and BitGo had announced that BTC purchases were available. Neither company had publicly disclosed supported Bitcoin wallet types, confirmation requirements, exchange-rate methodology or whether customers face transaction limits.

Toyosa did not publish a Bitcoin sales total or identify a first BTC vehicle buyer in the materials reviewed. By comparison, BitGo publicly said in September 2025 that the first Toyota purchase in Bolivia using USDT had been completed when the stablecoin service launched.

Towerbank and BitGo handle different parts of the payment service

Toyosa said Towerbank supplies the transaction-processing platform together with digital-asset support and guidance. BitGo provides wallet infrastructure, security and transaction traceability for the Bitcoin service.

BitGo described its role more specifically on Sept. 20, saying BitGo Bank & Trust provides the digital-asset wallet infrastructure used by the new payment option. The company did not state in that announcement whether Toyosa retains BTC after each purchase, automatically converts payments into fiat currency, or uses another settlement arrangement.

The distinction matters for describing the service accurately. Available statements confirm that customers can pay with Bitcoin, but they do not establish that Toyosa is adding BTC to its corporate treasury or holding vehicle-sale proceeds in Bitcoin.

During the Expocruz presentation, Toyosa Group artificial intelligence director Edwin R. Saavedra linked the payment launch to Bolivia's monetary history, saying, "From the silver of Potosí to Bitcoin: Bolivia is once again at the forefront of the history of money." The statement represents the executive's characterization of the service.

Local coverage of the event identified Johan Hernández, Towerbank's digital-assets business lead, and Álvaro Olivares, BitGo's Latin America business development manager, among the representatives presenting the payment arrangement with Toyosa.

Bolivia permits crypto transactions but BTC is not legal tender

Bolivia's regulatory environment changed before Toyosa began accepting digital assets. In June 2024, the Banco Central de Bolivia revoked Resolution 144/2020 and authorized electronic payment channels and instruments for virtual-asset purchase and sale transactions.

The regulatory change ended the earlier prohibition on processing crypto-related transactions through the country's financial system. It did not make Bitcoin an official Bolivian currency.

The BCB states that the boliviano remains the country's only legal tender and that people and businesses are not legally required to accept virtual assets as payment. Users assume the risks tied to using and trading those assets.

Crypto activity rose sharply after the 2024 rule change. The central bank reported in June 2025 that virtual-asset transactions using electronic payment instruments reached $294 million during the first half of 2025, compared with $46.5 million in the same period of 2024. The BCB put cumulative activity since the regulatory change at $430 million.

Bolivian small businesses were increasingly accepting crypto amid inflation and dollar shortages. That report cited BCB figures showing the rise in virtual-asset transaction volumes after the country relaxed its previous restrictions.

Financial institutions entered the market during the same period. Ascrypto.news reported on Banco Bisa's USDT custody service in Bolivia, the bank introduced virtual-asset custody, buying, selling and transfer services after the central bank's policy change.

Bolivia is preparing more crypto oversight as adoption grows

Toyosa's Bitcoin service arrives while Bolivia continues developing rules around virtual assets. ASFI published consumer guidance in January warning that crypto exchanges expose users to price volatility, counterparty risks and potential losses, even when assets such as stablecoins are designed to track conventional currencies.

The country's financial accounting framework has moved further into digital assets. Bolivia's central bank reported that an October 2025 ASFI resolution added virtual-asset accounts, income, losses, custody and administration categories to the accounting manual used by regulated financial institutions.

Bolivia is preparing tighter crypto oversight under its IMF-backed economic reform program. The reported framework would address supervision and illicit capital flows, though final implementation rules and deadlines had not been published at the time of that report.

USDT has remained particularly visible in Bolivia's crypto economy. The BCB publishes reference prices for virtual assets and has used Binance peer-to-peer trading data for its USDT reference calculation. Its published virtual-asset table includes reference prices for Tether, Bitcoin and Ether.

In July, crypto.news reported on proposals to give USDT a more formal payment role in Bolivia, while noting that authorities had not completed rules that would make the stablecoin equivalent to national legal tender.

Regional data show stablecoins remain especially common for transactional use. Stablecoins overtook Bitcoin in Latin American crypto purchases during 2025, with dollar-linked tokens making up 40% of Bitso purchases compared with Bitcoin's 18%. The figures cover Bitso's markets and should not be treated as Bolivia-only data.

Toyosa's latest rollout extends its payment menu from the dollar-linked USDT service launched in 2025 to Bitcoin itself. As of Sept. 20, the company had confirmed the BTC purchase option but had not publicly released transaction volumes, Bitcoin-specific processing fees, minimum purchase amounts or a first completed BTC vehicle sale.