Latin America - Monreal \ Obando \ Cortizo \ Zulu \ dLocal
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 to keep you up-to-date:
Venezuela - PDVSA’s exposure to Bitcoin mining | 16 November
A Switzerland-to-El Salvador bridge forms for Bitcoin capital | 9 November
Brazilian Gabriel Galipolo’s SUR idea gets a Lula. Will it get a blockchain too? | 2 November
In Chile, Congress passed a new Fintech law that will regulate crypto | 26 October
Here is the most critical policy intelligence from this week if you are a Bitcoin, blockchain and/or financial technology professional making important decisions on Latin America.
In Mexico, President of the Senate Ricardo Monreal is making noise within AMLO’s MORENA party as a potential candidate for 2024 presidential elections. It’s possible that he breaks off and joins Movimiento Ciudadano, Indira Kempis’ party. Monreal is the only potential presidential nominee from within MORENA to discuss Bitcoin adoption so far.
El Salvador president Nayib Bukele plans to buy one bitcoin every day going forward. Founder of the TRON Network Justin Sun echoed that his company would do the same. Sun left TRON in December of 2021 to become Grenada’s ambassador to the WTO.
Costa Rican lawmaker Johana Obando sent a bill to congress this month for regulating a national crypto market. Obando is a member of the right-of-center Partido Liberal Progresista.
In Panama, the FTX fallout and concerns of the FTT stablecoin are making their way into the conversation. Panama’s blockchain association head Rodrigo E. Icaza demanded that president Laurentino Cortizo strip Huobi token from the crypto asset legislation being discussed in congress.
Caribbean East Island Nation Dominica entered into an agreement last month with TRON for building the country’s CBDC. TRON’s partner Huobi is increasing its engagement in the Caribbean.
Colombia-based crypto platform Zulu raised $5 million this week from Cadenza Ventures. Zulu is developing its wallet on the Polygon blockchain and wants to focus on USDC stablecoin savings accounts.
Paraguay is preparing to launch its own regulatory sandbox to pilot crypto technology for payments. The fate of the pilot will likely depend on Colorado party primaries for Paraguay’s forthcoming presidential elections in 2023.
Uruguayan payments firm dLocal was the target of a Muddy Waters short seller report this week. DLocal was spun off from Astropay, a Southern Cone-focused payments processor. Astropay was acquired by Huobi earlier this year.
Brazil’s dormant crypto bill is getting renewed attention in congress. Now that recently elected president Lula da Silva has gained power and there is a perception of stability, Brazil’s congressional legislation machinery is churning again.
Brazil’s Central Bank-developed payment infrastructure Pix launched two years ago. It’s now the most used type of method for paying goods and services there. That poses a competitive threat to other private initiatives being built on Bitcoin, Ethereum, TRON and Polygon networks in the region.
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.