Crypto adoption: Latin Americans use crypto assets for remittances and payments

The future of crypto adoption is bright in Latin America. Latin Americans are using cryptocurrencies in “today’s world.” That’s according to a report released this week by Kaiko, a digital asset market data provider.

Strong adoption!

Mastercard’s latest emerging payments figures show relatively strong adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies in general in Latin America.

The numbers on the adoption of cryptocurrency transactions in Latin America are unanimous. Mastercard’s recent study brings some warmth to a cryptosphere aching from an ongoing crypto winter. Besides, the pesky news about bankruptcies or near-bankruptcies of yesterday’s industry giants did not bode well.

“51% of consumers in Latin America have already made a transaction with cryptocurrencies”: the first lines of the report, which renders the results of the survey conducted in March and April among more than 35,000 people worldwide on emerging payments, start with more than encouraging figures.

The paper points to another piece of data that illustrates this growing role for cryptocurrencies in transfers and settlements. More than a third of consumers, in the region, reported using stablecoins as a payment method.

The company revealed that these activities include remittances, investment options generating stable currency returns and also payments, with Bitso and Mercado Bitcoin leading the way in terms of volumes exchanged in this area.

Bitso: one of the most used crypto exchanges

The uses of cryptocurrency of the inhabitants of Latin American countries are mostly associated with a lifeline in the fight against inflation and devaluation.

However, Kaiko’s report indicates that a significant portion of the volumes moved in the area correspond to applications in the current crypto-world.

Most of the volumes traded are concentrated on just two exchanges: Bitso, based in Mexico and bitcoin market, based in Brazil.

Bitso regularly handles between $20 million and $30 million in trading volume, with a peak of $60 million in a single day last June.

On the other hand, Bitcoin Market processes fewer cryptocurrency transactions, as the exchange only operates in Brazil. Its platform has recorded a trading volume of up to $4 million per day.

Unlike other regions, Latin America has a set of peculiarities that focus on the use cases mentioned above. Bitso bases its business on the remittance sector. This is one of the reasons for the fact that 60% of the exchange’s traded volumes are in XRP.

The exchange partnered with Ripple in 2020 to send near-instant remittances between Mexico and the United States, using on-demand liquidity from Ripple and various banking partners. As a result, Bitso has become one of the largest crypto-brokers in the region, processing more than $1 billion in such transactions in June. However, the move aims to penetrate more countries in the region.

Mercado Bitcoin also recently announced plans to expand its services to Mexico, in order to strengthen its offering in the region.