Inflation, cross-border payments, assets tokenization and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) were among the major drivers for crypto adoption across Latin America in 2022, sources in the region told Cointelegraph, with exciting examples of progress across many countries. Latin America made up 9.1% of the global crypto value received in 2022, reaching $562 billion between July 2021 and June 2022 — representing growth of 40% in the period. Four Latin American countries ranked among the top crypto adopters in the latest Chainalysis Global Adoption Index. Major developments have contributed to these results over the past 12 months. Authorities have been working on …

The Central Bank of Chile has delayed its plans for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) saying the issuance of a digital Chilean peso requires a deeper analysis of the benefits and risks, promising a new report toward the end of the year. A report from the bank published on May 11 included a preliminary evaluation of a Chilean CBDC. It explored the country’s current payment system, along with the benefits, risks and principles of issuing a digital peso. The bank stated while the current payment system “works adequately” and has been able to “adapt well to recent challenges,” a …

Amid the ongoing growth in cryptocurrency adoption worldwide, countries like Indonesia and Chile have seen a significant influx of public interest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), according to new data. According to a Friday report by Australian blockchain education startup Coinformant, Indonesia has been leading the world in crypto interest in 2021. In Coinformant’s report, Indonesia achieved the highest crypto interest score with 5.73 out of 10, beating other counties in a combination of four factors including the number of Google searches, the number of published crypto articles, engagement level increases and crypto ownership. Chile ranked second with a score …

A new stablecoin pegged to the value of the Chilean Peso is now live on the open-source Stellar payments network — but is yet to prove popular with users. Chile-based firm CLPX Inc launched what it describes as the first-ever Chilean Peso-pegged stablecoin dubbed the “CLPX” token. According to the public ledger on Stellar Expert, since the launch on Monday, the stablecoin has seen limited volume of just $12,689 from a total of 12,902 trades. CLPX was designed to provide a cheaper alternative to traditional Peso-based remittances, with the firm utilizing the Stellar Network, as it incurs “substantially” lower fees …

Brazil’s largest Bitcoin exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, has announced plans to expand across Latin America. Chief executive Reinaldo Rabelo named Chile, Mexico, and Argentina as among the jurisdictions it will expand into first, comparing the “regulatory culture” in those countries to Brazil’s. According to Useful Tulips, Mexico is currently the fourth-largest Latin American country by peer-to-peer Bitcoin trade volume, with Chile ranking fifth, and Argentina ranking seventh. The strong P2P trade volume suggest there may be significant demand from local traders that is not met by centralized platforms. The announcement comes alongside news of an investment round that saw Mercado Bitcoin …

Chile’s National Economic Prosecutor’s Office, or FNE, has granted approval to nine national freight maritime cargo companies to establish a joint venture to develop a blockchain platform, the first of its kind in the region. According to Mundo Maritimo, the platform will be named Global Shipping Business Network, or GSBN. It aims to handle all the processes related to maritime cargo, such as document issuance and cargo clearance, among other services. The solution is also expected to be offered to other companies in the industry and not just those involved in its development. As per the resolution issued by the …

Banco Estado, the only public bank in Chile and one of the three largest in the country, had to shut down its nationwide operations on Monday due to a cyberattack that turned out to be a ransomware launched by REvil. According to a public statement, the branches will remain closed for at least one day, but clarified that customers’ funds have not been affected by the incident. Citing sources close to the investigation, ZDNet reported that the REvil ransomware gang is behind the attack. It reportedly originated from an Office document infected with the malware that an employee received and …

Amid declining global volume, Localbitcoins.com continues to comprise a hub for Latin American peer-to-peer (P2P) trade — with Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela posting record volume over recent weeks according to Coin.dance. This past week saw Localbitcoins trade between Bitcoin (BTC) and the Mexican peso spike by 71%. As such, the week of April 25 saw roughly $430,000 worth of BTC change hands in Mexico — comprising the fourth-strongest weekly trade activity on record. Latin markets post record volumes during April Argentinian P2P trade rallied to post a new record of more than $710,000 in weekly volume during the week of …

LocalBitcoins data shows that the weekly trading volume in Chile’s fiat currency recently touched a new all-time high. Cryptocurrency market data platform CoinDance shows that LocalBitcoins volume in Chile reached a new record of over 330 million Chilean pesos in the week ending on April 4. Chile LocalBitcoins volume in Chilean Pesos. Source: CoinDance It is worth noting that these figures are also influenced by the depreciation of the Chilean peso. According to data from foreign exchange website XE, the currency fell by over 6.45% against the dollar in the last two months alone — and has lost a whopping …

Chile’s crypto trading platform CryptoMarket has obtained a license issued by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), allowing it to provide services for the purchase and sale of crypto assets. Founded in 2016, CryptoMarket joins a select group of Latin American crypto companies operating in the region, with Bitso (Mexico) and Mercury Cash (Venezuela) obtaining licenses from Gibraltar and Estonia respectively. The exchange, which has 150,000 users and operations in Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Europe, had to incorporate a representative in Estonia to obtain the license. It was subject to an internal audit, underwent a criminal background check and had …

A Chilean-based exchange says its goal is to deliver easy access to crypto for the Latin American community. Cripto InterCambio’s offering comes amid growing interest in the industry across the region. Confronted with ever-increasing levels of hyperinflation, Venezuelans have been embracing crypto — with record trading volumes reported as consumers abandon the bolivar. The country’s central bank has also been exploring whether or not to hold Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in its coffers, adding validity to crypto in the eyes of the public. The company says its exchange service is instantaneous and that more than 100 cryptocurrencies — including …

Bitcoin (BTC) exchange Bitex has partnered with Uruguay-based financial software company Bantotal in order to expand it cross-border payments system on the Bitcoin blockchain to Latin America. CoinDesk announced the companies’ new partnership in a report on Aug. 13. According to the report, the upshot of this partnership is that Bantotal’s clients will have access to Bitex’s exchange services via a marketplace that hosts traditional financial services in its BDevelopers program. Per the report, Bitex will act as a middleman service for cross-border payments. The exchange’s role is to convert from fiat currency to BTC, and then back to fiat …