Key Facts
—Cash per person: Venezuela’s physical bolívar cash is worth roughly US$3 to US$5 per inhabitant. Brazil holds about US$300 per person in notes and coins, Mexico about US$1,500.
—Highest note: The largest banknote in circulation, 500 bolívares, is worth about US$0.63 at the official rate of 798.33 per dollar on 1 September 2026.
—Vault claim: A July research memorandum says some 750 million unused banknotes printed in 2016–2018 sit in central bank vaults. The Rio Times could not verify that figure independently.
—The law: The old note families were formally demonetized in 2018 and 2024. Reviving them would require an affirmative central bank decision with almost no international precedent.
—Expired forecast: The memorandum predicted a “recirculation” of old notes by 22 July, later “early August.” No announcement came; the exchange rate kept crawling upward.
—Disclosure: The memorandum is published by MIGP Capital Corporation, a firm with a commercial interest in Venezuelan foreign exchange. https://www.riotimesonline.com/venezuela-cash-runs-out-banknotes-2026/
The Rio Times
Venezuela Cash: A Country of 28 Million Is Running Out of Banknotes
Venezuela's bolívar cash is worth about US$3 to US$5 per person. How 28 million people pay without banknotes — and why a vault theory failed its own
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