With a change in leadership, Cubans began speculating that new president Raul Castro would end the two tiered currency system currently in place by trading the country’s convertible peso.

From the Washington Post:

Cubans swamped currency exchange offices Monday and early Tuesday in a brief but intense speculative frenzy fueled by rumors that new President Raúl Castro would end the island’s reviled dual currency system.Hoping to make a quick profit, many Cubans traded the country’s valuable “convertible pesos” — a currency primarily used by tourists, foreign-owned businesses, the elite and black-market vendors — for the weak Cuban national peso, which is used for the salaries and pensions of nearly all Cubans. The speculators believed that Castro, who hinted about gradually changing the dual money system after being named president Sunday, would double the value of the weak national peso or abolish the stronger convertible peso.

Due to the black market, it is not difficult for ordinary Cubans to get the convertible pesos.

Although nearly all Cubans are paid in national pesos, many here have access to convertible pesos because they get tips from tourists or sell items on the massive black market. The convertible peso — which is worth $1.08 — was created in the mid-1990s when Fidel Castro opened the island to tourism to generate hard currency after the collapse of Cuba’s biggest financial backer, the Soviet Union. A convertible peso is worth 24 national pesos.

Cubans cannot use national pesos in the island’s best stores, which carry products — such as beef, soap and cooking oil — that are not available or are in short supply in state-run stores. As a result, the dual monetary system has created resentment among Cubans.