Latin America - Bitso / Bukele vs Petro / Tether in Venezuela / Milei / 'Smart PIX'
Critical Policy Intelligence for Latin America Bitcoin & Blockchain
I hope you are having a great Friday. Thanks again for reading Barracuda Briefing.
In case you missed it, here are the latest Barracuda Insights (for paying subscribers) to keep you up-to-date:
The IMF wants central bankers in Latin America & The Caribbean to make CBDCs for cross-border realities | 1 March 2023
In Colombia, a ‘pig butcher’ scam’s victims linked back to Binance and Huobi exchange transactions | 22 February 2023
Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele’s cyber surveillance tactics raise specter of US sanctions | 9 February 2023
Russia-Iran cooperation around a gold-backed stablecoin could signal next steps for Venezuela’s Petro | 1 February 2023
Mexico’s Bitcoin Billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego’s ally in congress steps into the 2024 presidential race | 25 January 2023
Here is the most critical policy intelligence from this week if you are a Bitcoin, blockchain and/or financial technology professional making decisions on Latin America.
Mexico’s Bitso partnered with Mastercard for a debit card product. The Mexican crypto exchange’s fiat banking partner Silvergate is facing significant stress amidst rumors of a bailout.
Mexico’s president Andres Manuel López Obrador is turning the conversation abruptly toward anti-inflation measures during his administration’s final lap. AMLO today called on Latin American leaders to a meeting in April for the discussion of trade and tariffs. The idea of a common currency will resurface.
El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele and president of Colombia Gustavo Petro have started an online spat on Twitter of the former’s security crackdown, prison policies, and human rights abuses. Some Colombians admire Bukele for his law-and-order approach to organized crime.
In Venezuela, Tether’s USDT is reportedly being used to dodge sanctions. The USDT token is also known as the preferred token for Russian webcam money brokers in Eastern Europe and Colombia. Users report that when paired with the TRON blockchain, USDT is cheap, fast and can avoid sanctions and scrutiny.
There is an El Salvador-led campaign to set up Bitcoin Beach-like experiments in Peru. There are several circular Bitcoin communities being set up by a local Bitcoin initiative in Lima.
Argentina’s presidential candidate Javier Milei is getting renewed attention from Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow. Mow was a key figure in marketing the Bitcoin adoption story for president of El Salvador Nayib Bukele and is spending his time and efforts on nation state Bitcoin adoption.
Brazil’s Central Bank is rolling out its CBDC pilot this month. The CBDC, according to the Brazil Report, can be thought of a ‘smart PIX’ in reference to the existing instant payment transfer system built by Roberto Campos Neto’s central bank. Campos Neto expects the CBDC pilot to end sometime by the end of 2024. If successful, this PIX-based Digital Real could be replicated elsewhere.
Barracuda Briefing is a weekly analysis of critical policy & power shaping Bitcoin and blockchain in Latin America. It goes out to subscribers for free every Friday.