Guide
How exchange rates work in Venezuela
Venezuela does not have a single dollar price. Several rates coexist — the official one (BCV), the parallel/street rate, the USDT P2P market — and each is used for different things. Here's how they fit together, and where TuFamilia's rate sits.
The rates, at a glance
Illustrative figures to show how the rates relate. See the live chart on the homepage.
| Rate | Used for | Approx. |
|---|---|---|
| BCV (official) | Invoices, taxes, "USD-priced" goods in large stores, formal salaries | 1 USD ≈ 96 Bs |
| Parallel / street | Physical cash exchange between bolívares and USD, informal money changers | 1 USD ≈ 140 Bs |
| USDT P2P | Buying and selling digital USDT against bolívares | 1 USD ≈ 138 Bs |
| TuFamilia | Bolívar delivery to a Venezuelan bank account | Dynamic — see chart |
The BCV: the official rate
The Central Bank of Venezuela publishes an official USD/Bs rate on almost every business day. It is the country's legal accounting unit: invoices are issued with it, taxes are calculated against it, rental contracts are signed in "USD" using it, formal wages are pegged to it, and the "USD prices" you see in many large stores and supermarkets are based on it.
It's the lowest rate in terms of Bs per dollar — so paying "in USD at the BCV rate" is usually cheaper for the consumer than paying at the parallel rate. But buying physical dollars at the BCV price is essentially impossible for the general public: the official window is small and reserved, so this rate functions more as an accounting peg than as a rate at which you can actually buy dollars.
The parallel: the street dollar
The parallel is the price you pay — or receive — when you exchange bolívares for physical dollars: at an informal money changer, through a trusted middleman, at a border. It's still called the "black dollar" because of its origins in the underground market under exchange controls. In daily life, almost everyone uses it.
The parallel is always higher than the BCV (more Bs per dollar). The gap reflects real market conditions: demand for dollars exceeds the supply available at the official price, so the price rises until supply and demand actually clear. When public trackers like Monitor Dólar stop publishing, the parallel does not disappear — it just becomes less visible. It still prices every real transaction.
The crypto dollar: the USDT P2P market
A huge share of working-age Venezuelans move money today through USDT — a digital dollar, effectively pegged 1:1 to USD. In the P2P market, anyone can buy or sell USDT against bolívares, settled by mobile payment or bank transfer.
The Bs/USDT rate in P2P tracks the street rate almost perfectly, because the two are functionally the same: real supply and demand between individuals. For the general public it is often more convenient and faster than getting physical cash, and prices are transparent — you see them before accepting a trade.
Why there's a gap between the BCV and the others
The gap exists because the BCV holds its rate artificially below what the market would clear at. The official supply of foreign currency is constrained — reduced exports, financial sanctions, capital controls — so the central bank cannot sell dollars at its published rate to satisfy all of the demand.
Anyone who needs dollars and can't get them at the official window looks for them where they do exist: the parallel, the USDT P2P market, intermediaries. There the price is set by real supply and demand, not by decree. The result is two coexisting prices: one legal-accounting (BCV) and one market (parallel / crypto). As long as the gap persists — and it will, while high inflation meets scarce hard currency — Venezuela will continue to run on this dual exchange-rate structure.
Where TuFamilia's rate sits
TuFamilia delivers bolívares to a Venezuelan bank account. To do that we need real Bs liquidity, which is not available at the BCV price — it's only available at the actual market price (parallel / P2P). So our CAD/Bs rate is derived from the real market, not the official one.
In practice, that means you receive far more bolívares per CAD than you would if we settled at the BCV rate. Our margin is the difference between what we pay for liquidity and what we deliver to you — and it's always smaller than the full BCV-vs-parallel gap. On the homepage chart you can see, live and over the last 7 days, where our rate sits against the BCV in USD, EUR, and CAD.
Ready to send?
Now that you know the rate map, the calculator shows exactly how many bolívares your family will receive and what USD reference it equals.
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