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Olá pessoal!
For this episode I speak to Sebastian Serrano, CEO and co-founder of Ripio. Sebastian is one of the region's crypto pioneers, and Ripio now boasts over 12 years of presence in the market with 20 million users.
He last joined the show towards the end of 2023 to discuss the election of Javier Milei and the related fallout; for today’s episode we dive into Ripio’s business and key trends in the market.
We discuss how stablecoins have achieved genuine product-market fit in the region, representing 80% of Ripio's trading volume. This adoption stems from fundamental market conditions that make digital assets particularly valuable in Argentina and elsewhere in Latam:
Financial infrastructure gaps: Limited access to traditional financial services creates demand for alternative solutions
Currency instability: Persistent devaluation of local currencies drives store-of-value seeking behavior
Cross-border efficiency: 24/7 availability and rapid settlement times offer significant advantages over traditional remittance systems
We also discuss how Ripio has successfully transitioned from retail-focused services to becoming the region's largest B2B crypto infrastructure provider, partnering with major institutions including Mercado Libre (Melí Dollar stablecoin), Coinbase, and Circle.
The company's expansion across Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, and Chile, plus U.S. OTC operations, demonstrates the scalability of regional crypto infrastructure.
Regulatory Development and Market Opportunities
We also discuss Argentina's evolving regulatory landscape, notably with the Comisión Nacional de Valores introducing sandbox frameworks for asset tokenization projects. This development addresses a critical market gap, namely blockchain-powered financial rails create a leapfrogging opportunity for Argentina's limited capital markets.
Other regulatory insights include:
Measured approach: Current registration requirements for Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) are expected to evolve into formal licensing regimes
Capital market development: Tokenization could dramatically expand access to financing for local companies
Infrastructure scaling: Crypto trading volumes now exceed traditional stock exchange volumes in Argentina
Market Outlook
Serrano projects significant market growth ahead, and he’s particularly bullish on Q4 performance driven by continued bitcoin and stablecoin adoption. The upcoming Devconnect Buenos Aires event in November underscores Argentina's position as a global crypto development hub.
For institutional stakeholders, Latin America represents a compelling case study in crypto adoption driven by real economic utility rather than speculation—a foundation for sustainable long-term growth.
I enjoyed this conversation with Sebastian and I hope you do as well. You can connect with him on X/Twitter.
-AWS
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