Latin America - Need to Know
The politics and policy shaping crypto, blockchain and digital infrastructure in Latin America this week.
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Earlier this week I wrote about:
Here are some of the most important updates on bitcoin, blockchain and digital infrastructure policy, power and politics from this past week.
Banco Galicia adopted crypto this week. That’s a big deal. The Argentine bank will offer BTC, ETH and the Paxos stablecoin USDC through Lirium, a Lichtenstein-based digital wallet. Brubank also began offering trading services.
Soon afterward, however, the Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) contradicted Galicia’s move and made a statement that prohibits banks and financial services firms from handling crypto tokens. The Central Bank cited a lack of regulations as the reason.
Argentina’s energy regulator Camessa says that crypto miners in Tierra del Fuego are collapsing the grid. The local governor called out digital asset mining as the cause.
El Salvador’s FinMin Zelaya claims the volcano bond is delayed because of low prices. It doesn’t make much sense, since low prices are also counter-intuitive to the way Bukele and Mow originally framed the bond. Zelaya is using the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a scapegoat for what is likely a delay in the securities laws that have been long promised as a precursor to the bond.
Omar Angulo wants to bring a Tesla factory to El Salvador. The singing New Ideas Party business leader appears to be leveraging the party for his own personal gain. This does not strike me as a serious plot to bring Tesla manufacturing to El Salvador.
Panama National Assembly approved the bill that allows bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in that Central American country. The bill was presented by Congressman Gabriel Silva.
In Venezuela crypto exchange Binance blocked the account of yet another user in Latin America, this time in Venezuela. This also happened with Binance users in Colombia, a sign that Binance could be struggling to gain trust in the region.
Some Cubans are using bitcoin or other crypto on the island to evade sanctions and remit funds back to family members. There’s a claim made by NBC that 100,000 people on the island are using bitcoin or crypto.
The Chilean Investigative Police (PDI) called on the population to be alert to the growing wave of crypto scams in the country. The country appears to be loaded with fake coin projects.
Coinbase Global Inc and 2TM Participações SA ruled out talks about a possible purchase of the Brazilian cryptocurrency broker by the leading US exchange Coinbase.
Google & Meta now have government affairs, public policy managers in Bogotá. Before, it was Mexico City and Sao Paulo where most Big Tech firms based their LatAm managers.