Latam Crypto Report #18: Binance, Bybit Register in Argentina

Also: Tether invests $100 million in agriculture company; USDC launches in Mexico

Hola a todos! 👋

Welcome back to 🌎Latam Crypto Report, where contributor Kristin Majcher compiles and analyzes the biggest crypto stories in the region. We’ll cover the biggest news from late August until the first days of October.

In this edition, we’ll take a look at:

• Crypto exchanges including Binance, Bybit and Bit2Me registering as virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in Argentina

• Tether’s $100 million investment in a major agricultural company

• Circle (USDC) entering the Mexican market

As the days become chillier 🍁🧥 in the Northern Hemisphere, crypto developments are only heating up in Latin America. No matter where you’re joining us from in the world, we want to thank you for reading.

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💡Heading to LABITCONF in Buenos Aires at the end of the month? Get in touch with Brazil Crypto Report’s founder Aaron Stanley to talk about what you’re working on.

Argentina Advances With Registering Crypto Exchanges

Crypto exchanges are starting to announce regulatory approvals in Argentina, whose National Securities Commission (CNV) invited these companies to register as virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to continue operating in the country under new regulations.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, announced on October 1 that it is now registered as a VASP in Argentina, making the South American country the 20th jurisdiction where the company is registered. The company said in a statement:

“Binance's website and application become fully available to Argentina-based users, providing them with access to Binance's complete suite of services and products.”

Just last week, Binance’s former CEO Changpeng Zhao was released from a four-month prison sentence in the U.S. after pleading guilty to violating that country’s money laundering laws.

Bybit, the world’s second-largest exchange, said on August 16 that it had also received VASP registration in Argentina. It also received permission to operate as a card operator, and recently opened pre-registration for a new, physical Mastercard available to Argentina residents.

Spanish exchange Bit2Me has also secured VASP registration in Argentina, CoinDesk reported.

Argentina leads Latin America in crypto transaction volume according to Chainalysis data, with the country receiving about $85.4 billion in the yearlong period ending in July 2023.

Neighboring Uruguay recently established a law to regulate digital assets as well (see below).

(Cointelegraph, BeInCrypto, Binance Announcement, Bybit Announcement)

Tether Invests $100 Million in Adecoagro

Photo by Jonatan Lewczuk on Unsplash

In a unique move, stablecoin firm Tether has invested $100 million in Luxembourg-based agroindustrial company Adecoagro — equivalent to a 9.8% stake. In Latin America, Adecoagro operates in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

Tether announced the deal in a U.S. regulatory filing; Adecoagro is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (AGRO).

While few details are known at this point about why Tether acquired the Adecoagro stake, CoinDesk points out that the agricultural company has a minority stake in an Argentina-based tokenization company called Agrotoken.

(Bitcoin.com, Cointelegraph, BeInCrypto, CoinDesk, Ámbito)

Circle (USDC) Now Available in Mexico

U.S.-dollar pegged stablecoin Circle (USDC) is now available in Mexico and Brazil through each country’s real-time payment system.

• Mexican residents can now transfer USDC through the national real-time payment system (known as SPEI for its Spanish acronym).

• The update allows Mexican businesses to access USDC via local currency without having to send international wire transfers, Circle said, adding that this can “drastically reduce” the time it takes to access the stablecoin.

In other stablecoin news, e-commerce heavyweight Mercado Libre appears to be offering its U.S. dollar-pegged Meli Dólar stablecoin (MUSD) in Mexico after introducing the cryptocurrency to Brazilian customers. Days after BeInCrypto and CriptoNoticias reported that the company was planning to introduce the stablecoin in Mexico, local tech outlet Xataka said it was available in the country.

Meanwhile, digital bank Nubank announced it would suspend trading of its native Nucoin token, Cointelegraph Brasil reported. The company is inviting holders of the cryptocurrency to trade it in for bitcoin or USDC.

(The Block, BeInCrypto, CriptoNoticias, Xataka, Circle Announcement, Cointelegraph, CoinDesk)

🗞 Latin America Crypto News Rundown

Here’s where we break down Latin America crypto headlines from the past few weeks, organized by country and region. If you don’t see a country listed, it’s simply due to the news flow during a particular week.

Regional News

• Latin America-focused crypto exchange Ripio is testing a DeFi Visa credit card. (CoinDesk, CriptoFacil, Bitcoin.com)

South America

🇦🇷 Argentina

• In case you missed it, check out Aaron Stanley’s recent podcast with updated takeaways on Crecimiento’s recent pop-up city experiment in Buenos Aires. (Brazil Crypto Report, Forbes)

• A specialized cybercrime unit in Buenos Aires’ prosecutor’s office recently held a training course focused on investigating crypto crimes. (BeInCrypto, Cointelegraph)

• MicroStrategy CEO Phong Le visited Argentina for an event called MicroStrategy World: Buenos Aires Edition. (BeInCrypto, Computer Weekly, Clarín)

• The Argentina Blockchain Foundation is offering free legal assistance to help victims of crypto scams. (iProUP, BeInCrypto, CriptoFacil)

• Authorities arrested a group accused of allegedly financing Hezbollah through crypto transactions. (BeInCrypto, Infobae, La Nación)

• Nonprofit ONG Bitcoin Argentina and CoinEx Charity launched a university-focused bitcoin program. (BeInCrypto)

• Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said he plans to meet with Argentina’s President Javier Milei at the upcoming Tech Forum Argentina event. (Cointelegraph)

🇧🇴 Bolivia

• Bolivia’s central bank reported a significant increase in digital asset trading since it reversed a long-standing crypto ban in June. (Cointelegraph)

🇨🇴 Colombia

• Digital asset platform Nexo joined the Colombia Fintech Association as it grows its user base in the country. (BeInCrypto, Nexo Announcement)

• Bancolombia subsidiary Wenia recently integrated the Arbitrum and Solana networks. (BeInCrypto)

• Colombia’s crypto users grew 17% in the first semester of 2024 compared with the same period a year earlier, a recent report from Bitso shows. (La República)

• The Attorney General’s Office charged the alleged creator of the crypto scam Daily Cop, which affected more than 100 victims who lost funds. (BeInCrypto, Infobae, El Espectador)

🇵🇾 Paraguay

• Paraguay’s grid operator (ANDE) detected an illegal crypto mining setup in a church, local media outlets reported. (ABC, Última Hora, CriptoNoticias, Livecoins)

• An attempted robbery involving mining machines resulted in gunfire. (Última Hora, CriptoFacil)

🇵🇪 Perú

• BeInCrypto sat down with Kristopher Panana, a potential congressional candidate who is pro-crypto. (BeInCrypto)

🇺🇾Uruguay

• Uruguay approved a law that updates regulations to include crypto, putting the central bank in charge of regulating and supervising entities offering digital assets. (Cointelegraph, CriptoNoticias, Ámbito, BeInCrypto)

🇻🇪Venezuela

• In an interview with the Human Rights Foundation’s Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said bitcoin is a “lifeline” for the country’s citizens and raised the idea of adding the cryptocurrency to Venezuela’s national reserves. (Bitcoin Magazine, Exame, BeInCrypto, Cointelegraph)

• Aaron also interviewed Guillermo Goncalves and Alessandro Cecere of El Dorado, a peer-to-peer marketplace for stablecoins targeted at the Venezuelan diaspora.

• President Nicolás Maduro proposed a “multi-monetary” system in a recent meeting with the banking sector. (Livecoins, CriptoNoticias)

• Venezuelan authorities confiscated 35 crypto mining machines. (BeInCrypto, Infobae)

Central America, Mexico & Caribbean

🇩🇴 Dominican Republic

• The Dominican Republic is hosting the Latin American Congress on the Prevention of Money Laundering (COPLAFT) this week. (BeInCrypto, COPLAFT)

🇬🇹 Guatemala

• The iris-scanning crypto identity project Worldcoin has touched down in Guatemala. (Worldcoin, BeInCrypto)

🇲🇽 Mexico

• Mexico’s national transparency institute is investigating Worldcoin’s personal data collection practices, BeInCrypto reported. (BeInCrypto)

🇸🇻 El Salvador

@nayibbukeleIt was a pleasure to spend several hours talking with one of the great minds of our time Elon Musk

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• President Nayib Bukele met with Tesla’s Elon Musk in Texas to discuss AI, robotics, and the “future of humanity.” (Cointelegraph, Forbes, Bitcoin.com)

• Bukele announced plans to submit a debt-free budget for 2025. (Bloomberg, CoinDesk)

• An Arkham Intelligence study said the government of Bhutan has about double the amount of bitcoins that El Salvador is known to hold, several outlets reported. (El País, Cointelegraph, CriptoFacil, Decrypt)

• A new Spanish-language report from the Financial Action Task Force of Latin America (GAFILAT) said bitcoin did not have a “significant impact or high transaction volume” during its on-site visit between January 8 and 19. (Bitcoin.com, Cointelegraph)

• Figures from the Central Reserve Bank show that remittances in crypto wallets fell 5.6% in the first seven months of 2024 compared with the previous-year period, local outlet La Prensa Gráfica reported. (La Prensa Gráfica, BeInCrypto, Cointelegraph)