Latin America benefits the most from crypto, says Uphold Exec

The introduction of Bitcoin (BTC) in El Salvador sparked a digital asset revolution in Latin America, and the region could benefit even more if people could exchange cryptocurrencies, fiat, and other digital assets. said the head of the multi-currency investment platform Uphold.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, JP Thieriot, CEO of Uphold stressed that the nature of life in Latin America calls for Bitcoin-based use cases, and lists the region that will benefit the most from the currency’s adoption.

Venezuela and Colombia are the two most famous cryptocurrency users in the region alongside El Salvador. However, other countries are closing the gap fairly quickly, with El Salvador acting as a catalyst, Thieriot explained. 1.4 million of Uphold’s 7 million users are from Latin America, and the high adoption rate in the region continues to attract global players.

Bitcoin will be accepted first by those who don’t have a bank account and by those who send or receive wire transfers, he said. However, CBDC is becoming more popular with traders as the largest cryptocurrency. He added, “Many companies may prefer something stable to deal with, but portfolios will benefit more from Bitcoin.

“With the right channels to convert between Bitcoin, US Dollars and any potential CBDC, users can really easily use the currency that is best for their use case.”

Regarding CBDCs, Thieriot noted that not every country needs to produce its own digital currency as it would be easy to accept an existing one. He added that the main goal of the Latam states should be a working system where anyone in the region can easily exchange assets.

Related: Puerto Rico sees the return of crypto-rich interest

As mentioned by Thieriot, Latin America saw significant growth in cryptocapital in 2021. The Mexican crypto exchange Bitso became the region’s first crypto unicorn thanks to a financing round.

Mercado Bitcoin, a local cryptocurrency exchange, has also completed a massive round of funding, securing $ 200 million in funding for SoftBank. “It was incredible and we expect many more to come,” commented Thieriot, adding:

“When you consider that banking without a bank is one of the most important philosophical and practical pillars of cryptocurrencies, it means giving everyone access to competitive financial services for the first time … or handing everything over in the legacy system.”

This means that families who depend on remittances don’t have to deduct 10-20% of their income from remittance companies, Thieriot continued. “That means literally anyone can start building a portfolio. It will fundamentally change the standard of living. ”