📊 Three licenses, one message: loosen up without letting go of control
The U.S. Department of the Treasury moved a long-awaited piece. Through OFAC, on September 28 it published General Licenses 46E, 48D, and 49B, which replace versions 46D, 48C, and 49A and reopen space for U.S. companies to move again in Venezuela’s energy sector. It is not a full opening or a lifting of sanctions: it is a relaxation with strict oversight, P2P trade with an expiration date, and periodic reports to the Treasury.
📈 What remains enabled
License 46E allows the purchase, sale, transport, refining, and commercialization of crude oil, derivatives, and petrochemicals of Venezuelan origin destined for the U.S. market, including contracting maritime and port services with local institutions. License 48D authorizes the shipment from the United States of goods, software, technology, and technical assistance for exploration, production, and maintenance in hydrocarbons, as well as for power generation, transmission, and distribution infrastructure. License 49B, the most discussed, opens the preparatory phase for new investments: negotiating, signing contingent contracts, and carrying out audits and due diligence processes in legal, technical, and environmental matters.
🔎 What follows is closed
Here is the detail that PitbullChain is interested in. No contract signed under 49B can be executed or generate disbursements until there is a specific and independent license issued by OFAC. 48D prohibits exporting or reexporting diluents to Venezuela and creating new direct joint ventures. And 46E shuts three doors at once: no payments with cryptocurrencies issued by Venezuela —the case of the Petro—, no transactions in gold, and no debt restructuring schemes.
💰 The crypto point: why this is not a hug with USDT
The licenses are explicit about how money must circulate. Any monetary payment directed to sanctioned entities or individuals, except local taxes and fees, must be channeled through the official accounts of the Foreign Government Deposit Funds regulated by Executive Order 14373, or through the accounts indicated by the Treasury. Contracts with the Venezuelan Government or with PDVSA must resolve disputes in courts or arbitration centers in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, or Singapore. People and companies linked to Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and China are completely excluded. And the parties must report volumes, amounts, counterparties, and tributes ten days after the first transaction, and then every 90 days.
Translated to the local market: the institutional flow that enables this flexibility is designed to go through the formal banking system, not through wallets or P2P desks. USDT is not mentioned as a prohibited currency—the ban applies to Venezuelan issuances like the Petro— but the compliance framework pushes contractors, technicians, and service companies to charge and pay through banking channels so they don’t fall outside the umbrella.
🛡️ The real impact on the Venezuelan street
For the everyday user, the change won’t be immediate. The P2P market that moves USDT against bolivars will continue operating in parallel to banking, as it has for years. However, there are three effects worth keeping an eye on.
First, liquidity. If foreign currency enters through the oil and electricity circuit, the supply of dollars in the domestic banking system could grow. That puts downward pressure on the parallel exchange rate, narrows the gap with the BCV reference, and directly moves the price at which USDT is bought and sold in P2P. A shorter spread means less profit per transaction and, likely, more volume.
Second, the migration of flows. Part of the institutional demand for stablecoins —the one that used to come from companies that charged in USDT for services to the energy sector— may migrate to regulated bank payments to comply with the licenses. The demand that doesn’t go away is from individuals: remittances, savings, everyday payments, and a store of value against inflation.
Third, compliance. With mandatory reporting and audits in place, the local ecosystem tilts toward P2P desks with identity verification, wallet history, and proof of the source of funds. Anyone operating informally is exposed more than ever.
📖 Read the full article: https://pitbullchain.com/noticias/ofac-flexibiliza-petroleo-y-electricidad-el-efecto-en-el-p2p-y-el-usdt-233739
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