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Bitcoin Fixes This? Paraguay President Resigns After Bank Lockout Hits 60% of Country
Developing story first seen 4 hours ago
Newly added coverage says Peña denied wrongdoing over his former business link to Ueno’s owners, saying he sold his interest in March 2025. He resigned after the bank’s collapse left millions unable to access their accounts, and Paraguay’s lower house voted 78-0 to impeach him minutes later, sending the charges to the Senate as Vice President Pedro Alliana prepared to take over.
The central bank placed Ueno into resolution after its solvency ratio fell below half the legal minimum. The bank had about 2.9 million customers, more than 60% of Paraguay’s adults, and held roughly $800 million in public-sector deposits; initial guarantee payments are for eligible depositors with up to 10 million guaraníes and an account at another institution. The crisis has revived debate about Bitcoin self-custody: holders can authorise transfers without a bank, but lost private keys can mean permanently losing access to funds.
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In short
- Peña denied wrongdoing and said he sold his Ueno-linked interest in March 2025.
- Paraguay’s lower house voted unanimously to impeach him after his resignation.
- Ueno’s collapse left 2.9 million customers locked out of accounts.
How this story developed
- 1 hour ago Newly added coverage says Peña denied wrongdoing over his former business link to Ueno’s owners, saying he sold his interest in March 2025.
- 2 hours ago President Santiago Peña announced his resignation after the collapse of digital lender Ueno Bank left millions unable to access their money, escalating a banking failure into a political crisis.
Full account
Paraguay’s Ueno Bank crisis has grown from a financial failure into a test of the country’s political institutions. After the central bank put the digital lender into resolution on 3 November, millions of customers were left unable to use their accounts, cards or payment services. President Santiago Peña announced on Thursday that he would resign, saying he wanted to protect political stability and democratic institutions. The lower house voted unanimously to impeach him soon afterwards, while lawmakers debated whether to accept his resignation or continue towards a Senate trial.
Ueno said it served about 2.9 million customers, more than 60 per cent of Paraguay’s adults. The disruption has affected ordinary depositors, workers and pensioners, and the bank also held substantial public-sector funds, including money for health and pensions. Regulators said Ueno’s solvency had fallen below half the legal minimum. The central bank has described the case as isolated and set out a deposit guarantee of up to 228.3 million guaraníes per depositor, roughly US$36,000, with initial payments aimed at eligible accounts holding no more than 10 million guaraníes.
The political pressure reflects Peña’s previous business connection to a company linked to Ueno’s owners. He has said he sold his stake in March 2025 and denied wrongdoing. The attorney general ordered three investigations into the crisis, covering regulatory oversight, the handling of the bank’s failure and the placement of public funds there; Peña said he would cooperate. The dispute over his departure also has constitutional and legal stakes: opposition senators argued that resignation could preserve his route to a lifetime Senate seat and associated legal protections. AP reported that Peña’s own Colorado Party turned against him, with former president Horacio Cartes backing impeachment. Protesters, meanwhile, voiced anger over frozen savings and what they see as longstanding political corruption.
The episode has renewed attention to a familiar Bitcoin argument: when money is held by a bank or exchange, access depends on that intermediary. Bitcoin kept in a wallet whose private keys the owner controls can be transferred without a bank authorising access. Bitcoin advocates often point to the cryptocurrency’s 2009 launch during the global banking crisis as part of that history. Self-custody, however, carries its own risks: lost or stolen keys can mean lost funds, and Bitcoin’s price can fluctuate sharply. The bank failure has highlighted the distinction between control over an asset and the safety or stability of the asset itself.
Where outlets differ
From the full account, which is AI-written from the sources:
The headline’s claim that 60% of the country was locked out is imprecise: reports describe Ueno as serving more than 60% of Paraguay’s adults, not 60% of the total population. The supplied reports also give the customer figure as roughly three million.
The first report puts the emphasis on Bitcoin and self-custody as a lesson from the bank freeze. AP’s account focuses more on the political fallout, protests, the impeachment process and criminal investigations. The Bitcoin comparison is not part of the AP material supplied.
The first report says the lower house voted to impeach Peña and that the Senate was next to consider the matter. AP’s later account says both chambers declined to accept the resignation and the Senate chose to proceed with a trial. These accounts appear to reflect different points in a rapidly changing sequence.
The first report describes an announced resignation followed by impeachment; AP also reports that the resignation’s acceptance remained contested, with opposition senators arguing that resignation could preserve Peña’s eligibility for a lifetime Senate seat and legal protections.
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