I hope you are having a great Friday. Thanks again for reading Barracuda.
In case you missed it, here are the latest briefs to keep you up-to-date:
The Gilinski factor could shake up Colombia’s crypto regulatory sandbox | 28 September
Asian fentanyl trade will pose increasing risk to Mexico-based crypto exchanges. | 22 September
El Salvador’s Bitcoin law has done more for president Nayib Bukele than it has for Salvadorans, investors | 15 September
From Latin America this past week, here are the most important updates on Bitcoin, blockchain and crypto politics in the news right now:
Mexico’s former securities regulator at the CNBV Adalberto Palma Gómez joined Binance’s global advisory board earlier this month. Brazilian Henrique Mierelles, a former central bank chief, also joined the company.
CNBV has seen an outflow of talent recently. Some in the Mexican crypto market think this could be responsible for a lack of crypto oversight and crackdowns. Where Brazil’s federal police have conducted significant operations against scams, frauds and other criminal activity on crypto exchanges, Mexican authorities have not.
In El Salvador, delegates from renewable energy agency IRENA are showing up on 30 September for an international conference centering on geothermal energy. The conference is being led by state-run energy company CEL and president Daniel Alvarez.
There is data out showing El Salvador increased electricity exports, mainly to Guatemala, in 2022 compared to 2021. Geothermal and hydro contribute approximately 55% of the country’s national electricity generation. The Bukele administration wants to boost geothermal energy production for large-scale Bitcoin mining.
Former Central Bank chief for El Salvador, Carlos Acevedo, says that ordinary Salvadorans are not really using Bitcoin after one year of Bitcoin legalization. The adoption of Bitcoin as a means of payment is partly impeded by the government’s weak Chivo Wallet strategy.
US Treasury gave the green light for digital payment remittances to Cuba. That means Lightning Network payment companies with US money transmitter licenses can exchange with the Caribbean island.
It appears that Cuba, Moscow and Venezuela are coordinating on oil shipments. But the payment mechanism is unclear. This is a story to follow for how money is changing hands.
Colombia’s Central Bank is targeting fourth quarter 2023 for the launch of its digital payment network, the infrastructure of which is based on Brazil’s Pix. Pix is one rival of the Lightning Network in terms of speed and fees.
Chilean crypto exchange OrionX is expanding into Peru. The company has also set its eyes on the Mexican market.
Binance is now training law enforcement in Argentina and Brazil. This is another sign that the global exchange is attempting to improve its reputation as having poor compliance and internal security. The company is also opening two offices in Brasil.
Brazil’s Financial Intelligence Unit raided six exchanges last week. They froze assets and accounts. The arrests correspond to a wide-sweeping operation called Colossus and cover suspicious bank activity during 2017 through 2021.
In Argentina, Mexico-based Bitso launched QR payment capabilities. This is understood to be part of the firm’s existing Bitso Pay - not a Lightning Network upgrade.
Argentina’s Bitcoin lobby is fighting back against crypto mining seizures by the tax authority AFIP. AFIP has disconnected various operations for violating tax code.
Huobi and AstroPay are partnering for payment network infrastructure build out in Latin America. Huobi has a strong presence in Argentina and sees the market as one of Latin America’s most important for blockchain. AstroPay is led by Uruguayan Michael Lijtenstein.
Latin America-focused Strike raised $80 million in September. Strike is undertaking a Lightning Network payment pilot in Argentina and has told the public it is interested in Venezuela and other Latin American markets. CEO and Founder Jack Mallers was instrumental in the early development of El Salvador’s Bitcoin policy.
Bitgo and other six firms joined an integrity market coalition in the US. BitGo is a primary infrastructure provider for Bitso, Chivo and other Latin America-focused crypto firms. The company rolled out its custodial Lightning service on 14 September 2022.
The White House this month issued an important report detailing the government’s framework for addressing illicit financing risks & digital assets. Biden’s administration is particularly concerned about the gaps between AML/CFT regulations across countries and anonymity enhancing technologies (AETs), like Tornado Cash.