In the middle of the boom that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have been taking over in the Latin American region, from Cointelegraph en Español we have sought to talk with different communities of the cryptocurrency ecosystem to see the perspectives that are emerging in the face of governmental and Latin American adoption that we have been reviewing recently.
In the midst of this search to know the different opinions, we agreed with the “Cripto Latam” community, who were able to respond and express their views on what is happening.
Ezio Rojas (ER): How was CriptoLatam born? What prompted you to propose a project like this?
CriptoLatam Community (CC): It began in late 2019 and early 2020, one of the few positive things about the pandemic is that digital communities and instances to access information and studies remotely grew; It was formed as a group of friends who we met on a cryptocurrency forum at the University of Michigan, USA, where we carry out our Blockchain and Cryptoactive studies; We were the only Latinos and everything started with a WhatsApp group, where Rocío Escobar (founder) of Chile, Danilo Acevedo from Argentina, Vanesa Do Santhos from Brazil, Juan Rodríguez from Colombia, Lorena Ortega of Mexico, Anibal Gonzalez from Venezuela and Cristhian Manriquez from Peru. Later we invited Karol Lucero, a Chilean celebrity and influencer who was also our classmate and helped us a lot with social networks, since although we all belong to the crypto and virtual world as internet programming developers, we had very little experience in this area and proposed us to take this idea to instagram and twitter. Not only did we train at the University of Michigan, we also studied at MIT and other academic entities, where we took advantage of many talks, seminars, conventions and meetings; where we all participate together and thus continue learning and sharing experience.
(ER): Based on the experience you have had since its creation, how have you seen the advancement of the crypto community in Latin America?
(CC): It has been a constant and sustained growth, completely proportional to the interest in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in the region, we are concerned about the misinformation that exists and that was the main reason to try to educate and inform in our networks, I think we share the vision and mission with portals like yours.
(ER): What do you think are the unique qualities of the Latin American crypto community when compared to the rest of the world?
(CC): It is difficult to think of unique qualities when digital globalization connects and unites us in such a fast way, that puts us on an equal footing anywhere on the planet, however for Latinos, who continue to be an emerging market in all economic matters, It is a great opportunity to open a path in the crypto world, we see it in Venezuela and Argentina, where the constant devaluation of their currency allows informed citizens to take refuge in these assets that in recent years have had a much higher performance than those of the Bolívar or Argentine Peso. In the case of bitcoin or ethereum, already consolidated cryptocurrencies, today they represent a great escape route to those economies affected by inflation and the collateral effects of the coronavirus pandemic; something that until now only El Salvador has been able to understand and implement.
(IS): And on the other hand, what is the biggest challenge that must be faced when working in this part of the world?
(CC): Undoubtedly the greatest challenge is education, as in any area of development in Latin America, access to quality and reliable information makes it a real challenge; In the absence of regulation, it lends itself to unscrupulous people taking advantage of people’s ignorance to cheat and deceive. Therefore, working on the prestige of crypto assets is the task of the entire ecosystem.
(IS): Now let’s talk a little about what is happening in our region. How do you evaluate what happened in El Salvador?
(CC): As we mentioned before, the vision of the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, immediately puts him at an advantage, incorporating bitcoin into the public policy portfolio of his nation, does nothing more than position a step further than any country in the region; Understanding that it is not an exclusive asset, but a complementary one for the economy makes it 5 years ahead, of course it received criticism, but what character in history did not receive it in his minute simply for thinking differently. Being a pioneer will always have its difficulties, however future satisfactions will only agree with your measures.
(IS): Do you think other countries will follow in the Salvadoran footsteps? Do you think we will continue to see this government adoption in other Latin American countries?
(CC): The Latin economies remain conservative for the most part, and the leaders do not show interest towards this new world, in the short term we do not believe that there will be a mass adoption in the region, but at least we hope that it will begin to be discussed and put in the foreground. this complement to the development of existing economies; but we are sure that the road is going there and we want to contribute with the education and information of future users.
(ER): Changing the subject a bit, how do you evaluate the boom in NFT games in the region? Do they see it as something positive or negative?
(CC): Somehow this technology has more and more followers, however. The growth in an area that is very difficult to explain to people who do not understand how a digital asset can cost millions of dollars is worrying, this could end very badly if it maintains the exclusivity of users, not including the rest through education, it is the only way that is not negative for the ecosystem. Cryptocurrencies or blockchain technology is more than just a game.
(ER): Now to close, how do you think the Latin American crypto-community will close the year 2021?
(CC): The trend in the region, as in the world, is clearly bullish, more and more people are interested and who understand that this digital financial revolution is here to stay and that it will lay the foundations for future economic relations. In any case, we differentiate two groups in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, those who are before 2017, who feel like gods, owners of the truth and very reluctant to accept and incorporate people into their communities; they allude that any project that they do not know is ponzi and that new users are only for fashion. These crypto-conservatives do not understand that the success of blockchain technology will be proportional to the number of users that worldwide start adopting digital assets such as bitcoin and altcoins. That is where we come in, the post 2017 that we witnessed the first ATH of Bitcoin and that we waited for more than 1000 days, doing HOLD, for it to reach those levels again at the end of 2020. We seek to be an inclusive and non-exclusive community, therefore means of information and education, that is why our motto. “Cryptos for everyone!” We are in a process of growth and we hope to have more ambassadors and influencers who have the same vision as us, who go down the path of education, as is the Chilean Karol Lucero, who has more than 2.5 million followers. and who, without asking for anything in return, has contributed with their communication experience and social networks to spread our message. We not only invite you to join, we invite you to become informed and educated, this world is not fantasy, it is already a reality but you have to live it responsibly; It is an investment like any other, which requires dedication and education.