“Good ideas out of context are like shiny objects lost in a dark field,” American writer Seth Godin once said. “They catch your attention, but have no real utility.” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Argentine President Alberto Fernández have been making headlines for a proposal to create a common currency between Argentina and Brazil. The idea for a common currency arose about 25 years ago in an article written by two renowned economists and, in the context of the time, made sense. This idea has now been resurrected as a political opportunism play with a hint of …

Bitcoin (BTC) use in Guatemala is on the up. The Latin American country that borders El Salvador boasts Guatemalan-grown Bitcoin companies such as Ibex and Osmo, several Bitcoin Beach-inspired projects including Bitcoin Lake, and now, free BTC tattoos. A Bitcoin merchant adoption competition hosted by Osmo Wallet in 2022, a Guatemala-based Bitcoin company, led to the free ink promotion. Cointelegraph spoke to Piero Coen, the co-founder of Osmo Wallet, and Steven Marroquin, the owner of Soul’s Anchor, a tattoo parlor in Guatemala City. Coen explained how it that the mission is to get more people to use Bitcoin: “So we …

Argentina’s Ministry of Economy, the country’s economic policy manager, has drafted a bill to encourage Argentines to declare their cryptocurrency holdings with the inducement of discounted tax rates. Aimed at combating money laundering, the “Externalization of Argentine Savings” draft law was introduced by economy minister Sergio Massa according to a Jan. 6 report by local outlet Errepar. The bill would require crypto holders to produce an affidavit — a sworn statement identifying the whereabouts of their holdings to the government. The bill proposes tax incentives to encourage citizens to declare their holdings. Those who voluntarily declare their holdings within 90 …

Inflation, cross-border payments, assets tokenization and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) were among the major drivers for crypto adoption across Latin America in 2022, sources in the region told Cointelegraph, with exciting examples of progress across many countries. Latin America made up 9.1% of the global crypto value received in 2022, reaching $562 billion between July 2021 and June 2022 — representing growth of 40% in the period. Four Latin American countries ranked among the top crypto adopters in the latest Chainalysis Global Adoption Index. Major developments have contributed to these results over the past 12 months. Authorities have been working on …

The province of San Luis in Argentina approved a legislation allowing the issuance of its own stablecoin pegged to the United States dollar. The token, dubbed the "Activo Digital San Luis de Ahorro", will be available to all citizens of the province over the age of 18 and 100% collateralized in liquid financial assets of the province. The bill authorizes the province to issue the stablecoin up to 2% of its annual budget. It also stipulates that assets can be transferred between parties, but it does not specify which chain will be used for the transactions. The province of San …

As of 2022, more than 30 million Brazillian citizens have no bank accounts, and no credit or debit cards. What’s wrong here? For roughly a decade, Brazil has been passing legislation aimed at changing the situation. However, the results have fallen short of expectations. To better understand the reason, let’s take a step back to look at a historical perspective. The Brazilian banking industry has always been extremely concentrated, historically due to the country’s macroeconomic volatility, the bank’s legacy technology and stringent oversight. At one point in time, the regulator needed some reliable “bulwarks” to build the local financial system …

As the global crypto community is still licking its wounds from the FTX collapse, a liquidity crisis continues to spread around centralized exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) alike. It is soon to be decided whether the coming regulation triggered by FTX’s bankruptcy will bring a silver lining to crypto. The Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, the lower house of the country’s federal legislative body, has passed a regulatory framework that legalizes the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method within the country. It is estimated that 10 million Brazilians, or about 5% of the population, trade crypto assets. The largest …

Interest in Web3 continues to grow despite the crypto bear market. A recent article from McKinsey noted that venture capital investments in Web3 exceeded $18 billion during the first half of 2022. Findings from Cointelegraph Research also show that Web3 attracted the most interest from venture capitalists in comparison to other blockchain sectors during Q2 of this year. While notable, a lack of diversity has become apparent within the Web3 sector. For instance, it was found that only 16% of nonfungible token (NFT) creators are women. Although this number is low, women are taking an interest in owning digital assets. …

Remittance payments, fiat fears, and profit-chasing have been the three most significant drivers of crypto adoption in Latin America, according to a new report. The seventh-largest crypto market in the world saw the value of cryptocurrencies received by individuals rocket 40% between July 2021 to June 2022, reaching $562 billion, according to an Oct. 20 report from Chainalysis. Part of the surge was attributed to remittances, with the region's overall remittance market estimated to have reached $150 billion in 2022. Chainalysis noted that crypto-based service adoption was “uneven, but swift.” The firm pointed to one Mexican exchange operating in the …

The number of companies holding cryptocurrency in Brazil has reached new record highs as of August, amid an increased trust in cryptocurrencies and high inflation rates. According to local media reports, the country’s taxation authority, Receita Federal do Brasil (RFB), also known as the Federal Revenue of Brazil, recorded 12,053 unique organizations declaring crypto on their balance sheets in August 2022. The number is a 6.1% increase from the 11,360 companies in July and is the month with the highest recorded number of companies with crypto holdings to date. The RFB noted that Bitcoin (BTC) is the most popular cryptocurrency …

Changpeng Zhao (CZ) led crypto exchange Binance has opened up two offices in Brazil as the firm looks to tap the country’s emerging crypto market, with reportedly more than 34.5 million crypto users there. According to an Oct. 3 announcement, Binance has now opened offices in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, with more than 150 employees to be spread across the firm’s operations in Brazil. “The exchange operates in full compliance with the Brazilian regulatory landscape and believes that regulation is the only way for the digital asset industry to grow and reach the general public, allowing more people …

Ripple’s XRP token is set to be used to facilitate fast and cost-effective cross-border transactions in Brazil, after the launch of RippleNet's On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) with forex company Travelex. Digital payment network Ripple announced on Aug. 18 that foreign exchange company Travelex will utilize RippleNet’s ODL to facilitate cross-border payments between enterprises by utilizing Ripple’s XRP token. It also noted that Travelex Bank is the first bank approved by Brazil's central bank to operate exclusively in foreign exchange. Bom dia! Brazil is open for Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity with Travelex—our first LATAM bank partner—and the first bank approved by the Central …