🌎 The LatAm Trilemma

Real problems. Real solutions. Real data. This is Frontera.

Your weekly dose of data-driven crypto insights from the Latin American frontier. Trusted by leaders at Bitso, Binance, the Solana Foundation, the Ethereum Foundation, and more.

This is where you start if you’re building, investing, or scaling in LatAm.

Reading this by email? Click Read Online in the top right corner to view the full edition. Or listen to the full episode here. 

And don't miss this week's guest podcast with Nicolas Weber, partner at Blockchain Founders Fund, where he breaks down why European VCs are turning to Latin America.

This Edition is Presented by Bitso’s Stablecoin Conference

Frontera is an official media partner of Bitso’s Stablecoin Conference 2025.

We’ll be on the ground in Mexico City this August 27–28, covering the builders and ideas reshaping LatAm’s financial future.

Use the code FRONTERA10 for 10% off your ticket here.

⛰️ A Region Built for Blockchain

Latin America is filled with the kind of problems crypto was made to solve.

From rampant inflation, to costly remittances and financial exclusion, the region’s pain points align almost uncannily with crypto's value propositions.

Yet, solving these issues at a systemic level isn't as simple as dropping in a blockchain. It requires a balanced trifecta of ingredients.

This is the LatAm Trilemma.

Lasting crypto transformation demands three things in tandem: problems, talent, and capital.

In Latin America today, problems are abundant and talent is emerging, but capital remains scarce and disconnected.

The trilemma is out of balance. If we can correct it, both Latin America and the crypto industry stand to win immensely. And today, I'll show you how.

🔺 The LatAm Trilemma

Every breakthrough needs three forces in motion: pressure, momentum, and fuel.

In crypto, that means real problems to solve, talent to build, and capital to keep it going.

Before continuing, let's first define the components of this trilemma.

Problems are the acute economic and financial frictions people face: think inflation eroding savings, inhuman remittance fees, and millions excluded from basic banking. Latin America, unfortunately, has no shortage of these.

But problems don't solve themselves. They need solutions, which must be built by talent (founders) and supported by capital (VC investment).

In other words, crypto can only catalyze transformation if skilled founders tackle real use cases and have the backing to execute. A surplus of problems alone is not enough. It’s the combination of local pain points, capable builders, and smart money that drives breakthroughs.

Latin America today has the first in abundance, and the second in growing supply, but the third piece, capital, remains the weak link.

This imbalance is the core of the LatAm Trilemma.

⚠️ Problems

Latin America’s challenges read like a checklist of crypto’s promised use cases. Three stand above the rest:

Inflation

Local economies suffer chronically high inflation and volatile currencies. Argentina’s annual inflation hit 124% in 2023, destroying local purchasing power. 

In such an environment, demand soars for more stable stores of value and inflation-proof instruments. Dollar-pegged stablecoins and Bitcoin have naturally gained adoption as lifelines to preserve savings.

Remittances

The region receives over $160B in annual remittances. Yet senders lose 6% to middlemen. Crypto can cut that to near-zero. I think this needs no further explanation.

Exclusion

Roughly 42% of Latin Americans are unbanked or underbanked. Even for those with bank accounts, access to global financial products (investments, credit, stable currencies) is extremely limited. Crypto can act as an equalizer, connecting anyone with a smartphone to open financial networks. 

These problems are not new, we've covered them before at Frontera, along with existing solutions: Félix streamlining remittances with USDC, Etherfuse tokenizing Mexican bonds. Bitso, Capa, and Minteo building stablecoin rails.

I applaud and respect them deeply, thank you Manuel, Dave, Ben, Will, and Juandi for your work.

But to reach scale, to truly achieve systemic change, we need even more local founders. And the capital to back their ambition. Let me show you why.