Latin America-based cryptocurrency startup Ripio has launched a trading platform, including an over the counter (OTC) desk, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 16. Ripio’s newly launched platform will enable its customers in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico to trade cryptocurrency to fiat, use digital banking services, and request blockchain-based loans. The product also includes an OTC desk for institutional investors. Commenting on the product roll out, Ripio’s founder and CEO Sebastian Serrano said that “cryptocurrency, and our new platform in particular, offers brand-new investment horizons for all segments of the population. This is especially important in …

Prominent Brazlian bank, Banco Bradesco, has become the latest institution to join R3’s Marco Polo blockchain network for trade finance, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 14. Banco Bradesco is among Brazil’s leading banks, with total assets worth $338.2 billion and a market capitalization of $49.1 billion, the press release states. The Marco Polo network implements R3’s Corda enterprise blockchain technology together with a distributed trade finance platform from TradeIX. It is designed to provide greater cost and time efficiencies — as well as transparency — to commercial banks’ traditional and structured trade finance solutions. As …

Brazilian police have arrested a man for operating a clandestine drug laboratory and using the leading cryptocurrency bitcoin (BTC) to launder the proceeds, Cointelegraph Brasil reported on April 24. The State Department of Drug Trafficking (Denarc) in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, reportedly located a clandestine bitcoin mining laboratory in a small house while chasing a suspected drug trafficker on April 23. The report says the discovery is "something considered unusual in Rio Grande do Sul." At the site, law enforcement officials found 25 digital currency mining machines, which ran 24 hours a day, as well as "sophisticated" software …

The largest e-commerce company in Latin America, Mercado Livre, has banned cryptocurrency advertising on their website, Cointelegraph em Português reported on March 18. The development was revealed in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph em Português after the company’s users reported receiving of emails informing them about the change in Mercado Livre’s policy. The new policy requires all users to remove their listings pertaining to digital currency, otherwise all listings will automatically be taken down from the platform starting March 19. One of the users received a letter, saying: "We would like to inform you that as of March 19, you …

The Court of Justice in the Brazilian state of São Paulo has dismissed the appeal made by Banco Santander against cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin, and ruled that the bank should return funds to the company, local crypto media CriptomoedasFacil reports on March 8. Previously, the bank reportedly closed the exchange’s account, claiming that its activity was incompatible with its policy and froze the funds. According to the article, the Brazilian exchange took action through the courts against the closing of its account, claiming that the freeze of its funds was unjustified. Per the report, the funds to be returned amount …

Latin America’s largest investment bank Banco BTG Pactual SA is releasing its own blockchain-based security token, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 21. The token dubbed “ReitBZ” — which will be backed by distressed real estate assets in Brazil — will reportedly enable the bank to provide its real estate business to international investors at lower costs than with traditional means. ReitBZ will be perpetual, with the initial offering period of around 90 days, while proceeds will be reinvested in the distressed portfolio. Andre Portilho, BTG’s partner responsible for the project, reportedly said that the bank began exploring the technology behind cryptocurrency …

One of the largest Brazilian banks, Bradesco, has notified crypto exchange Bitblue that its banking accounts will be closed late February, local crypto outlet Portal do Bitcoin reported on Feb. 13. As the outlet has learned from unnamed industry insiders, Bitblue will face the closure of its accounts in Bradesco on Feb. 26. Moreover, the decision extends to the private accounts of Bitblue owners. Edisio Pereira, CEO of Bitblue, told Portal do Bitcoin that the company has previously had accounts in four other financial institutions; therefore, Bitblue will not appeal against the bank’s actions. However, its co-founders and partners — …

Ripple has announced the latest new partners in its global University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI), which include universities in the United States, China, Singapore and Brazil. The development was announced in a press release published Feb. 7. As reported, Ripple launched UBRI in June 2018 to support academic research, technical development and innovation in blockchain, cryptocurrencies and digital payments. The program has now reportedly onboarded eleven new higher education partners — including Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, and Duke universities in the United States, the National University of Singapore, the University of São Paulo in Brazil, and the Institute for Fintech Research …

Jair Bolsonaro, the new Brazilian president who has officially taken office a week ago, has criticized a project offering to create a cryptocurrency for indigenous people in a Jan. 7 tweet. Bolsonaro claimed that the new government will soon open “a black box” — a reference to an airplane’s flight recorder — of contracts and projects by state-owned economic development bank BNDES and other institutions. He mentioned that the recent project aiming to create a digital currency for the native population of Brazil has already been cancelled by the government. According to local daily newspaper Estadao, just a few days …

Brazilian premier league soccer club Atletico Mineiro has launched a fan token dubbed “GaloCoin,” Cointelegraph Brazil reports Friday, Dec. 14. The GaloCoin is named after Atletico’s mascot, a rooster (“galo” in Portuguese). It is based on Footcoin — a platform that allows to launch utility tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. The GaloCoin is tied to the national fiat currency exchange rate and is equal to one Brazilian real. Atletico’s token will allow fans to purchase game tickets, official apparel, as well as participate in discount programs. To use the club’s cryptocurrency token, one has to buy at least 50 GaloCoins …

The number of MikroTik routers affected by cryptojacking malware has repotedly doubled since summer 2018, reaching 415,000, security researcher VriesHd tweeted Sunday, Dec. 2. Since August, VriesHd has been reporting on crypto malware that targets routers and forces them to mine cryptocurrencies along with the researchers from Bad Packets Report. They revealed that routers by Mikrotik, a Latvian manufacturer of network equipment, were compromised by at least 16 different types of malware including Coinhive, a cryptojacking software mining privacy-oriented cryptocurrency Monero (XMR). By September the estimated number of compromised routers surpassed 280,000, according to Bad Packets. In the recent tweet …

Brazil’s largest private bank has partnered with United Kingdom bank Standard Chartered to create a blockchain-based platform for small loans, according to a press release published by Itau Tuesday, Dec. 4. Itau Unibanco, also a major Latin American banking group, and Standard Chartered both offer international banking services. The two entities have successfully conducted a proof-of-concept (PoC) for the mentioned platform, based on Corda Connect developed by New York-based blockchain startup R3. Moreover, Itau and Standard Chartered, joined by United States multinational financial services company Wells Fargo, have issued a club loan of $100 million to test the platform. According …