VIIO app with a USD balance, USDC and USDT coins, and peso bills

How to buy digital dollars in Colombia: options and costs 2026

VIIO

Publish date: 11/2/2026

Last updated: 11/2/2026

Financial tips

To buy digital dollars in Colombia, you need an app that sells them, an account verified with your ID document, and pesos to pay with, usually from an account in your name. Before you confirm, check three things: which digital dollar the app gives you (USDC, USDT or USDW), how many pesos you pay for each dollar compared with the day’s TRM (Tasa Representativa del Mercado, the official exchange rate), and which network you’ll be able to send it on later. Several apps say buying “has no fee,” but the cost is usually in the exchange rate.

The essentials, fast

What are you buying? A digital asset that aims to be worth 1 US dollar. It isn’t foreign currency or legal tender in Colombia, and not every app gives you the same one: Nequi and Mi Bancolombia sell USDW, Wenia’s digital dollar; other apps work with USDC or USDT.

How much does it cost? Look at the rate, not just the fee. Divide the pesos you pay by the dollars you receive and compare that with the day’s TRM.

Who supervises it? The Superintendencia Financiera (Colombia’s Financial Superintendence) doesn’t regulate or supervise crypto asset platforms, and these assets have no deposit insurance. Starting with tax year 2026, platforms with a presence in Colombia must report their users to the DIAN (Colombia’s tax authority).

What are digital dollars, and which one does each app give you: USDC, USDT or USDW?

Digital dollars, also called stablecoins, are digital assets that aim to keep a value of 1 dollar. They’re issued by private companies, not by a central bank. For the Banco de la República (Colombia’s central bank) and other Colombian authorities, crypto assets are not currency, are not money for legal purposes, and are not foreign currency.

The largest are USDC, issued by Circle, and USDT, issued by Tether. Circle is a company listed on the stock market in the U.S. and reports to the SEC (the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission); USDC’s reserves are held in cash and short-term U.S. Treasury bonds, mostly in a fund managed by BlackRock, and they’re published with monthly reports from an outside firm. USDT’s reserves are reviewed by the firm BDO every quarter and include U.S. Treasury bonds, gold and bitcoin. If you want to see how they differ, we explain it in USDC vs USDT: what they are and how they differ.

In Colombia there’s a third one worth knowing: USDW. It’s the digital dollar of Wenia, a Grupo Cibest company (the same group as Bancolombia and Nequi) incorporated in Bermuda. When you buy digital dollars from Nequi or Mi Bancolombia, the service is provided by Wenia, and what you receive is USDW. According to Wenia’s help center, the platform doesn’t hold USDC or USDT: if someone sends you either one, it converts it into USDW, and when you send dollars to an external wallet, they go out as USDC.

In the other apps we reviewed:

ARQ converts your pesos into USDC digital dollars (the app calls them “USDc”).
Littio works with USDC.
Bitso and Buda let you buy and hold USDT and USDC.
Global66 lets you receive, hold and convert USDT and USDC from its Cuenta Global.
Plenti converts your peso top-ups (PSE, Colombia’s online bank payment system; Bre-B, Colombia’s instant payment system; or card) into USDT.
VIIO lets you deposit USDC or USDT on the Polygon network.

Why does it matter? Because each one has a different issuer, with its own reserves, and because not every wallet accepts every token on every network.

How do you buy digital dollars with pesos, step by step?

Although the process is similar, some details change from platform to platform:

Sign up and verify your identity. You’ll have to validate your ID document in the app. The accepted documents vary by app (we cover them in the table below).
Send pesos. Payment methods depend on the app: Wenia accepts balance from your Bancolombia account, Nequi, or a Colombian debit or credit card; Bitso receives transfers only from Nequi or Bancolombia, starting at COP 10,000; ARQ and Littio accept Bre-B, PSE, Nequi and Botón Bancolombia; VIIO accepts PSE, bank transfer, or digital assets sent from another wallet.
Use an account in your name. VIIO states that top-ups must be made from an account you hold, or your funds could be blocked. Wenia and Bitso require the Nequi account to be linked to your registered phone number. The rule isn’t the same everywhere (Littio, for example, accepts third-party transfers via Bre-B), so check it before you top up or transfer.
Check the rate and fees before you confirm. The apps show you the price before you accept. On Bitso, for example, the quote stays fixed for 20 seconds.
Confirm and decide what you’ll do with them: keep them in the app, spend them with a card, or send them to another wallet, on the right network.

Where to buy them, depending on what you need

This table summarizes what each app publishes on its official pages as of October 2026. It isn’t a complete list of the market, and requirements change: confirm them in each app.

If you need to…	Options reviewed and what to check
Buy directly from your bank account	Options: Wenia (from Mi Bancolombia or Nequi) and VIIO. What to check: with Wenia you can only top up from Mi Bancolombia or Nequi, and you receive USDW. On VIIO you top up with pesos via PSE or bank transfer from an account in your name and receive the equivalent in digital dollars
Sign up with a passport, PPT or foreigner ID (cédula de extranjería)	Options: VIIO accepts a Colombian ID (cédula) or an ID document from your country of residence, a passport, a foreigner ID (cédula de extranjería) or a PPT (Permiso por Protección Temporal, Colombia’s temporary protection permit for Venezuelans). Littio accepts a national ID card or passport, with residence in Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Mexico or Peru. Global66 accepts a Colombian citizen ID (cédula) or a foreigner ID (cédula de extranjería) issued in Colombia. What to check: Wenia states that only the physical Colombian citizen ID (cédula) can be used to sign up in its app
Pay with a debit or credit card	Options: Wenia, with a Colombian card. What to check: it costs 2.2% of the amount + COP 200 + VAT (IVA)
Pay via Bre-B	Options: ARQ (formerly DolarApp) and Littio. What to check: on Littio, money that arrives via Bre-B goes into the peso account
Buy or hold USDC and USDT	Options: Bitso, Buda and VIIO. What to check: which networks each app accepts for sending and receiving
Buy from another person (peer-to-peer, P2P)	Options: P2P marketplaces such as Binance P2P. What to check: the platform holds the funds during the exchange, but the payment goes from person to person: read the rules first

VIIO. On VIIO you can top up your account with Colombian pesos via PSE or bank transfer from an account in your name and receive the equivalent in digital dollars. You can also deposit USDC or USDT on the Polygon network. VIIO currently doesn’t charge a fee to top up. Before you confirm each transaction, you see the rate and fees. To open your account, you need a valid ID document (Colombian citizen ID (cédula) or an ID document from your country of residence, passport, foreigner ID (cédula de extranjería) or PPT) and to complete identity verification in the app. VIIO is not a financial institution, does not take deposits from the public under Colombian law, and is not supervised by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (Colombia’s Financial Superintendence). The digital assets available on VIIO are not legal tender or foreign currency, and they are not covered by FOGAFÍN or any government guarantee. The VIIO Visa Card is operated by Persimon S.A.S.

If you already have digital dollars and want to know where to keep them, see how to save in dollars from Colombia; if what you’re looking for is a dollar account, read dollar accounts in Colombia. If you’re a foreigner, you may find this useful: what options foreigners and digital nomads have for managing their money in Colombia.

How much does buying digital dollars really cost?

“No fee” doesn’t mean free. Nequi explains it this way: buying and selling “has no additional fees; the cost will be determined by the exchange rate.” Bitso calls it the spread, the difference between the buy price and the sell price, and warns that it widens when there’s volatility, little activity or low liquidity. VIIO states in its terms that the rate it shows before you confirm already includes its compensation.

Few apps publish a figure. The ones we found, as of October 21, 2026:

Wenia, with a card: 2.2% of the amount + COP 200 + VAT. Buying COP 1,000,000 with a card costs COP 26,418 (COP 22,200 in fees plus 19% VAT).
Bitso, on its peso order book: 0.50% if your order waits for someone to take it and 0.65% if you take an existing order, at the lowest-volume tier. This applies to the order book, not necessarily to a simple purchase in the app.

How to calculate what you pay. Divide the pesos you paid by the digital dollars you received and compare that with the day’s TRM, which is published by the Superintendencia Financiera. For example, with a TRM of COP 3,163.76 (October 21, 2026), paying COP 3,200 for each digital dollar means paying 1.15% above the TRM.

What happens after you buy also matters. Sending to another wallet has costs that vary by network: on Bitso, withdrawing USDT costs 0.01 USDT on Polygon and 3.4 USDT on Tron. On VIIO, sending on Polygon is free, and on Tron and other available networks the fee is the greater of USD 5 or 0.3% of the amount. You can see VIIO’s fees on rates and fees.

Which network should you choose, and what happens if you get it wrong?

The same digital dollar can move across several blockchain networks (Polygon, Tron, Ethereum, Solana, Base, among others). When you send or receive, the origin network and the destination network have to match, and the destination app has to accept that token on that network.

Each app accepts different networks. Some examples, according to their help centers:

ARQ (formerly DolarApp) receives USDC on Ethereum or Polygon (free on Polygon) and for now doesn’t let you send to external wallets.
Wenia: Polygon, Solana and Base.
Littio receives USDC, USDT and DAI on Polygon, Ethereum or Solana, and warns that other tokens or networks “could be lost.”
Bitso receives USDT on five networks and USDC on seven.
Global66: USDT on Tron and Ethereum; USDC on Ethereum, Base, Polygon and Solana.
Plenti doesn’t publish which networks it accepts: confirm it in the app before you send.
VIIO receives USDC and USDT on Polygon PoS, and shows you the network and fees before you confirm a transfer.

If you get it wrong, you’ll probably lose the money. VIIO warns about this in its FAQ: “if the address or the network is incorrect, the assets may be permanently lost.” Before you send, confirm the address, the token and the network, and if it’s your first time, test with a small amount. Here we explain how to transfer funds from VIIO to another wallet.

What does regulation in Colombia say, and what does the DIAN report?

In 2023, the Banco de la República and six other authorities (including the Superintendencia Financiera, the DIAN and the UIAF, Colombia’s financial intelligence unit) concluded that crypto assets are not currency, are not money for legal purposes, are not foreign currency, and no one is required to accept them as a means of payment. The concept also notes that Colombian regulation doesn’t mention a specific framework for them.

In June 2024, when it closed its pilot with banks and platforms, the Superintendencia Financiera said that crypto asset platforms are not regulated by Colombian law or subject to its supervision, that their value “could fall drastically and even reach zero,” and that they have no guarantee or deposit insurance. If someone tells you they have a “license from the Superfinanciera” to operate with cryptocurrencies, be wary: the agency clarified that it doesn’t grant that type of permit.

For the DIAN, crypto assets are treated as intangible assets: they’re included in your net worth and, when you sell them, the gain may be taxable (Concepto 5146 of 2026). In addition, Resolución 000240 of 2025 requires crypto asset platforms with a presence in Colombia to report to the DIAN their users’ data, including Colombian residents, and their transactions, starting with tax year 2026. The first report is due on the last business day of May 2027.

What are the risks of buying P2P or keeping your digital dollars in an app?

With P2P, you buy from another person. On Binance P2P, the platform holds the seller’s assets while the payment is completed, but you make the peso payment directly to the seller. Binance publishes its rules to avoid scams, including: never release funds before you receive payment, don’t negotiate outside the platform, don’t accept payments from third-party accounts, and be wary of emails asking you to complete a transaction, because Binance doesn’t send them.

In an app, custody varies by platform. Platforms may use different models for the custody of digital assets. Before you use one, review its terms and conditions to understand who holds custody of the assets and what risks exist.

The 1-dollar value is not guaranteed. In March 2023, USDC fell to 87 cents, according to the U.S. Federal Reserve. A digital dollar aims to be worth 1 dollar, but it can move away from that value.

In pesos, the value moves with the TRM. A digital dollar tracks the dollar, not the peso. Between October 17, 2025 and October 17, 2026, the TRM fell 18.1%: anyone who held dollars during that period had fewer pesos at the end.

Frequently asked questions

Can I buy digital dollars with a passport or foreigner ID (cédula de extranjería)? It depends on the app. VIIO accepts a passport, foreigner ID (cédula de extranjería), PPT, or the ID document from your country of residence; Littio accepts a national ID card or passport; and Global66 accepts a Colombian citizen ID (cédula) or a foreigner ID (cédula de extranjería) issued in Colombia. Wenia, the service behind Nequi’s and Mi Bancolombia’s digital dollars, only lets you sign up in its app with a physical Colombian citizen ID (cédula).

Is USDW the same as USDC or USDT? No. USDW is Wenia’s digital dollar, which, according to its help center, is backed by reserves managed in a trust at Banco Agrícola, in El Salvador. USDC is issued by Circle and USDT is issued by Tether. They all aim to be worth 1 dollar, but they have different issuers and reserves.

Do I have to declare digital dollars to the DIAN? The DIAN treats crypto assets as intangible assets, so they’re part of your net worth, and selling them can generate gains that must be declared. If you have questions about your situation, talk to an accountant.

Are digital dollars covered by FOGAFÍN (Colombia’s deposit insurer)? No. The Superintendencia Financiera has warned that crypto asset transactions have no private or government guarantee and aren’t covered by deposit insurance.

Note from our team: this content is for information only and doesn’t constitute financial, tax or legal advice. Each app’s rates, fees and conditions change often; they’re dated, and you should confirm them directly with each one before you decide.

Sources

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