I hope you are having a great Friday. Thanks again for reading Barracuda.
In case you missed it, earlier this week I wrote about how:
Here are the most important updates on bitcoin, blockchain and digital infrastructure policy in Latin America from this week:
Mexico’s Bitso entered into an alliance with Everest, a custodian offering stablecoins. The partnership allows Bitso users in Mexico to improve cross-border transfers with the US, Europe and Singapore.
US crypto platform Kraken is under scrutiny for having Cuban and Iranian addresses among its clients. The company is currently under investigation by the Treasury Department for non-compliance with U.S. laws.
El Salvador says that tourism in the country has increased due to the fact that bitcoin is legal tender. According to official figures, visits during the first half of 2022 almost surpass those of all of 2019, which registered 1.2 million visitors.
Honduras town of Santa Lucia has adopted Bitcoin. The company Coincaex is responsible for providing the POS software to accept the crypto currency at 60 merchants.
Honduras’ Central Bank reiterated that cryptocurrencies are not regulated as a means of payment in the country. The bank said there is no evidence that the people have adopted crypto assets as a preferred means of payment in other countries.
Colombia's blockchain association is lobbying for yet another crypto bill. Camilo Suarez and AsoBlockchain want a Bitcoin Law that appears to compete with Mauricio Toro’s crypto legislation.
Colombia began the delivery of land titles using Ripple’s blockchain. The tool is run by the National Land Agency and Spanish firm Peersyst. Ripple, meanwhile, is in a dispute with the US securities regulator.
Venezuelan Criptolago, one of seven exchanges authorized by the Maduro government, terminated its operations. Without further details, the company linked to the regional Zulia state government said goodbye to the market after four years of activity.
Venezuelan governor of Carabobo Rafael Lacava promoted a crypto game called Dracula NFT, ostensibly designed or backed by Lacava’s administration. The governor made odd childish sounds in a video posted to Twitter.
Argentine Buenbit, a partner of Num Finance, has plans to integrate a new stablecoin linked to the Sol to get closer to the Peruvian market. This is due to the success they have achieved with nuARS in Argentina.
Chileans are increasingly turning to stablecoins amidst high inflation. According to CryptoMarket, the exchange has seen an increase in Tether’s USDT and USDC transactions.
Santander’s Brazil unit is preparing to offer cryptocurrency services to its more than 9 million customers in the coming months.
Brazil’s Nubank and Mexico’s Bitso reached 1 million users each in Brazil. Nubank is using Paxos for liquidity and custody of crypto assets.
Uruguay’s Central Bank asked Binance to explain the reasons for offering digital assets as savings. According to the state entity, Binance uses an unauthorized procedure and could be out of compliance.
Argentine Banfield football club received $6 million in stablecoins in exchange for selling player Giuliano Galoppo to Sao Paulo FC. The transaction was performed by Bitso and used USDC.