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Olá pessoal!
For today’s episode I talk to Guillermo Goncalves and Alessandro Cecere, CEO and CMO of El Dorado, to explore crypto adoption in Venezuela and their stablecoin-powered super app.
El Dorado is a peer-to-peer marketplace for stablecoins focusing on remittances and cross-border payments in the Latin American market.
Since launching in 2021, more than 250,000 users from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Peru and Venezuela have executed 2.3 million USDT transactions on Tron using El Dorado. Further, the platform now has integrations with 70 payments apps across the region
The team raised US$3 million in a seed round from Multicoin Capital, Coinbase Ventures and others earlier this year .
To understand why a solution like El Dorado is necessary, Goncalves and Cecere explain what it was like living in Venezuela during the economic crisis of the 2010s. They share their firsthand experiences navigating this turbulent financial landscape and how they were basically forced to explore alternatives like bitcoin during those years.
From early at-home bitcoin mining ventures to arbitrage opportunities on peer-to-peer marketplaces, their journey provides valuable insights into how cryptocurrencies have become a lifeline for many Venezuelans.
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We then dive deep into El Dorado, which is designed to facilitate remittances and cross-border payments for the Venezuelan diaspora and other Latin American users. The platform's success lies in its ability to leverage stablecoin liquidity to bridge the gap between various payment methods across the region.
One of the most intriguing aspects of the discussion is the dominance of USDT on the Tron blockchain in emerging markets. They explain why this particular stablecoin has gained such traction, outpacing its competitor USDC in many Latin American countries.
We also touch on the potential of Brazil's PIX system and how it's influencing real-time payment solutions across Latin America. We also look at the team’s ambitious roadmap for El Dorado, including plans for yield-bearing stablecoin accounts, which could revolutionize how people in the region save and invest.
Other Takeaways and Key Points:
Venezuela's hyperinflation led to rapid crypto adoption during the 2010s, with some citizens holding up to 99% of their assets in stablecoins and other cryptos
Peer-to-peer marketplaces like LocalBitcoins played a crucial role in early crypto adoption in Venezuela, but have since been shut down — leaving a void in the market
USDT on Tron has become the dominant stablecoin in Latin America due to low fees and network effects
El Dorado's success demonstrates the high demand for crypto-based remittance and cross-border payment solutions in Latin America
This was a great interview detailing how stablecoins are being used to solve a set of acute real world problems in the region. I really enjoyed this conversation and I hope you do as well.
You can connect with Guillermo and Alessandro on Linkedin.
Have a great weekend everyone!
-AWS
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Episode #117: Inside El Dorado - Latam's Stablecoin SuperApp