The adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) in El Salvador has sparked a digital asset revolution in Latin America, and the region could benefit even more if people can exchange cryptocurrencies, fiat money, and upcoming central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on the same infrastructure.said the head of multi-currency investment platform Uphold.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Uphold CEO JP Thieriot stressed that The nature of life in Latin America calls for use cases based on Bitcoin, and said that the region will benefit the most as the adoption of crypto continues to grow..
Venezuela and Colombia are the two countries that most adopt cryptocurrencies in the region, in addition to El Salvador. However, other nations are closing the gap fairly quickly, and El Salvador acts as a catalyst, explicó Thieriot. Of Uphold’s 7 million users, 1.4 million are from Latin America, and the region’s high adoption rate continues to attract global players.
The unbanked and those who send or receive remittances would adopt Bitcoin first, he said. However, CBDCs would become more popular than the largest cryptocurrency for traders. “It is understandable that many companies prefer something stable for transactions, but investment portfolios would benefit much more from Bitcoin,” he added.
“With the right channels to convert between Bitcoin, US dollars, and any potential CBDC, users could really use whatever form of currency works best for their use case.”
Speaking of CBDC, Thieriot noted that not all countries need to make their own digital currency, as it would be easy to adopt an existing one.. He added that the main objective for Latin American countries should be a functional system in which anyone in the region could simply trade between assets.
As Thieriot mentioned, Latin America has enjoyed significant growth in cryptocurrency financing in 2021. The Mexican cryptocurrency exchange Name became the first cryptounicorn in the region thanks to a Series C capital raise of $ 250 million in May.
Mercado Bitcoin, a Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange, also completed a mega round of funds, securing $ 200 million in funding from SoftBank. “It’s fantastic, and we look forward to many more to come,” Thieriot commented, adding:
“Considering that the banking of the unbanked is one of the main philosophical and practical pillars of cryptocurrencies, this could mean offering people, for the first time, access to financial services that rival or exceed anything in the system. inherited.”
This means that families that depend on remittances do not have to see how 10% -20% of their income is diverted by money transfer companies, Thieriot continued. “This means that, Literally anyone can start building an investment portfolio. It will basically change the standard of living“.
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