Frontera subs last edition: 40

Frontera subs this edition: 62

Frontera is the newsletter that keeps you updated on what’s happening in crypto in LATAM, just the reality of how the industry is evolving in our region. 

If you want to build products, invest, or grow in LATAM, this is your place. 

LATAM Crypto Ecosystem: Leading the New Digital Economy

We’re excited to announce our first report:

🎉 "LATAM Crypto Ecosystem: Leading the New Digital Economy" 🎉

This comprehensive guide uncovers how crypto is transforming economies across the region.

 Click here to download it now 👇

After 2 months of research and production, we’re finally launching Frontera’s first report: "LATAM Crypto Ecosystem: Leading the New Digital Economy."

👏👏👏👏

Personally, I’m excited about this for 3 reasons:

• It gives us a broader perspective on what the region needs, and we can create better content out of this.

• This report includes insights that position LATAM as an attractive area for VC investment and crypto protocols.

• There are still many areas to explore and challenges to solve, such as financial inclusion (70% of the region remains unbanked, according to Latin America Reports in 2022).

This report goes beyond just presenting data, it aims to reveal the region's reality and what it needs to progress.

We even used metrics like the Shannon Index, a biodiversity measurement commonly applied in ecology and agroforestry, adapting it to understand how vast and diverse the crypto ecosystem in the region truly is.

If you’re interested in investing, building, expanding in LATAM, or simply understanding how you can support the region, this report is for you. 🤝

Here’s what you’ll discover inside (and more):

🌎 Latin America: A global crypto hub for investors, projects and communities

• Argentina: Fighting hyperinflation with stablecoins—42 projects driving adoption.

• Brazil: A leader in regulation, innovation, and DeFi infrastructure.

• Mexico: Revolutionizing remittances with faster and cheaper blockchain solutions.

• Colombia: Using crypto to bring financial services to underserved areas.

🔎 Here are 4 interesting facts you’ll find in this report

1. Crypto enables faster, cheaper remittances, supporting LATAM families. In 2024 Bitso processes 10% of Mexico-US remittances, the largest remittance corridor in the world.

Key data:

• Impacted countries: El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala.

• Challenge: Traditional remittance fees cut sent amounts.

• Crypto advantage: Faster, low-cost transfers without intermediaries.

• Bitso's role: Handles 10% of Mexico-US remittance volume, this is around $6billion USD .

2. Brazil’s Digital Real (DREX) leads CBDC innovation in LATAM to modernize the financial system and boost financial inclusion.

Key data:

• CBDC in focus: Brazil's Digital Real (DREX) pilot.

• Goals: Modernize finance, cut costs, boost efficiency for unbanked.

• Crypto impact: Drives remittances, inflation protection, and transparency.

• Brazil’s position: Emerging global leader in crypto adoption and innovation.

3. Argentina’s Costaflores uses blockchain for wine transparency with OpenVino, ensuring authenticity and creating wine-backed tokens.

Key data:

• Industry: Argentina's wine sector.

• Example: Costaflores Vineyard & Winery in Mendoza.

• Initiative: OpenVino: world’s first open-source winery.

• Blockchain use: Tracks production, ensures authenticity, supports sustainability.

• Innovation: Wine-backed cryptocurrency, each token equals one wine bottle.

4. In LATAM, crypto protects savings from inflation. In Argentina, USDT adoption soars and Lemon Cash boosts usage with crypto cards.

Key data:

• Affected countries: Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil.

• Argentina's inflation: Over 200%.

• Crypto use: Stablecoins (USDC, USDT) hedge savings against local currency devaluation.

• Tools: Lemon Cash offers crypto cards with BTC cashback incentives.

🤝 Communities & Collaboration

• Dynamic networks like Ethereum Argentina and Blockchain Rio foster education and innovation.

• Regulatory landscapes vary: Brazil leads, while others adapt to change.

💡 Download the report now to access all the key data, trends, and strategies for navigating this vibrant crypto ecosystem. 

We have tons of other interesting facts in the report. 

Get your copy here 👇

Let us know what you think, we’d love your feedback! 🙌

With 🧡 Rivv, Ab, Rafa, Acid and all the Frontera & Espacio Cripto team

📰 Latam Crypto News 📰

This edition is presented by Bando

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Key stories of crypto in LATAM this week

💳 Latin America's new payments landscape
Latin America’s diverse payments ecosystem is shaped by local innovations: BNPL in Argentina, real-time payments in Brazil, digital wallets in Colombia, debit cards in Chile, and fintech growth in Mexico. Regulatory reforms are also stimulating expansion.

Country Highlights:

• Mexico: 770+ fintech startups, with growth driven by proximity to US innovation hubs.

• Colombia: Digital wallets surged from 27M to 55M active users from 2021 to 2023.

• Brazil: Pix (instant payment network) drives financial inclusion, with 84% bank account ownership.

• Chile: Debit cards lead payments, accounting for 81% of transactions.

• Argentina: BNPL growth fuels inflation protection, expected to grow 27.8% annually until 2029.

 📊 Survey in Central America revealed that 80% buy cryptos as an investment:

• 80.6%: Buy cryptocurrencies with a focus on long-term investment.

• 64.5%: Use cryptocurrencies as a store of value for savings.

• 32.3%: Use cryptocurrencies for investment or trading.

• 12.9%: Use cryptocurrencies as a regular payment method.

• 77.4%: Prefer bank transactions as the primary method for payments.

• 41.9%: Use cash as a payment method.

🌎 LATAM Bitcoin interest reaches new highs:

• Venezuela 🇻🇪: Searches doubled in November, rising from 48 to 83 points. Cryptocurrency adoption grew 110% annually, highlighting Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation.

• Colombia 🇨🇴: Google searches peaked at 100 points from November 10–16, marking an all-time high. Adoption rose 25% in 2024 despite not making the global top 20.

• Argentina 🇦🇷: Searches hit 100 points after presidential elections. Inflation drove citizens to Bitcoin as a safe asset, with Buenos Aires leading searches.

• Brazil 🇧🇷: Interest spiked in late October, aligning with global trends. Brazil remains LATAM’s crypto leader, ranking 10th globally in adoption.

• Mexico 🇲🇽: After a slow year, searches hit 100 points in November, coinciding with Bitcoin's price surges and growing crypto market awareness.

🌎 Restrictive credit terms and longer payment delays in Latin America

Coface’s latest survey shows tightening credit conditions and longer payment delays in Latin America. 

In 2024, the average credit term dropped to 53 days, and late payments increased to 52 days, reflecting financial challenges for businesses.

Key points:

• Mexico: Shortest credit terms at 46 days.

• Brazil: Longest credit terms at 60 days.

• Ecuador: Longest payment delays, averaging 64 days.

• Colombia & Peru: Significant rise in delays, with an increase of over 20 days.

• Business Outlook: 54% of companies expect improvement, despite economic uncertainties.

Regulatory & policy

🇧🇷 Brazil integrates Chainlink and Microsoft into CBDC project
Brazil's Drex CBDC uses Chainlink's CCIP for cross-border transactions and Microsoft-backed tools to tokenize documents, automating supply chains and boosting financial innovation.

🇧🇷 Brazil proposes strategic Bitcoin reserve
A bill to create a national Bitcoin reserve has been introduced in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies.

🇸🇻 El Salvador launches its first tokenized US treasury offering
NexBridge and Bitfinex Securities have introduced the first regulated offering of tokenized T-Bills in El Salvador, accessible to investors via USDT and soon BTC.

🇸🇻 How much has El Salvador capitalized in Bitcoin to date?
El Salvador holds 5,689 BTC with a value of over $540M, reflecting a 101.76% return. The BTC is securely stored in physical vaults, marking a milestone in crypto adoption.

🇦🇷 Argentina may mine Bitcoin with new proposed legislation
Congressman Martín Yeza has proposed that the Central Bank of Argentina be allowed to buy, store, and mine Bitcoin as a way to strengthen its reserves and reduce reliance on traditional currencies.

🇦🇷 Milei attracts investors like Salinas Pliego to Argentina
Milei's economic reforms, including austerity measures, fiscal discipline, and achieving a fiscal surplus, have boosted stock market returns (+125%) and bond profitability (+90%). These changes have inspired confidence, with investors like Ricardo Salinas Pliego highlighting Argentina's potential to drive prosperity and attract investments.

🇩🇴 Dominican Republic suspends Worldcoin operations
The Dominican Republic's consumer protection agency, Pro Consumidor, suspended Worldcoin’s operations due to controversial biometric data collection and abusive contract clauses.

Companies

🇧🇷 Itaú launches AI platform for WhatsApp transactions

Itaú unveils "Inteligência Itaú," an AI tool for Pix transfers via WhatsApp using text or voice commands, starting with 5,000 selected users.

🇨🇴 Colombian peso-backed stablecoin launches on Celo

Minteo’s stablecoin, COPM, tied to the Colombian peso, joins Celo’s ecosystem. With 200K holders and $400K monthly trading volume, it aims to enhance LATAM’s financial inclusion.

🇲🇽 Sati to integrate virtual dollar purchases on WhatsApp next week

Mexican startup Sati, which allows users to send and receive cryptocurrencies via WhatsApp, will integrate a feature next week for purchasing virtual dollars directly through the messaging app.

Community

🇦🇷 SEED Latam launches Aleph de Verano scholarship program!

SEED Latam is offering 5 scholarships to support developers, researchers, designers, and content creators from Argentina and LATAM who want to attend Aleph de Verano. 

Applications are open until Nov 30, apply here!

🟣 Winners of #SolanaCopaAmerica startup competition announced!
The Solana Copa America Startup Competition concluded with the following winners:

• 1st Place: Vaquita (Bolivia 🇧🇴)
  A DeFi community savings protocol on Solana, inspired by traditional South American systems.
  @VaquitaProtocol

• 2nd Place: Kobe Assistant (Argentina 🇦🇷)
  An automated platform for developing and deploying smart contracts using AI.
  @KobeAssistant

• 3rd Place: Genezys (Brazil 🇧🇷)
  DeFi infrastructure integrating blockchain and AI for investment management.
  @genezys_io

• 4th Place: DeVolt (Brazil 🇧🇷)
  A decentralized platform transforming electric vehicle charging and promoting sustainable energy.
  @ddevolt

Thanks to all competitors, judges, and supporters for making this event memorable! See you next year!

Want to share news or request a topic?, send them to [email protected]

See you next Wednesday!