Many people wonder about whether is possible or not to exchange bolivares (VEF) by any other currency and of course whether is legal or not. The latest currency exchange rates were established pursuant to Exchange Decree No. 35 of March 2016: (i) the DIPRO, which was set at VEF 10.00:USD1 and destined exclusively to the import of food, medicine and other matters of national interest and (ii) the DICOM, which is a rate that allegedly adjusts to an average of foreign currency derived from productive activities in the country currently (September, 2016) oscillating at approximately VEF646:USD1, but we MUST NOT ignore the black market exchange rate calculated according to the Colombian border transactions, which is practically the only exchange rate available for companies and individuals although such transactions can hardly be seen as legal strictly speaking because the origin of the funds is unequivocally lost at the moment of the exchange. However, bitcoin is a very alternative that may function as an invest to ultimately obtain a foreign currency legally. Bitcoin in the Venezuelan legal framework is considered merely as a intellectual property, therefore never equivalent to a fiat currency. Bottom line: Government rates are available to less than 1% of applicants, so don't try to rely on that for business because is not real. In order to actually function in the Venezuelan financial system you must combine a set of tools related to intellectual property assets, exportation and transaction cost efficiency. Lastly: No, buying dollars in the Colombian border is not legal and you will loose the origin of funds.