Latin America, Tipping Point: Cuba Regulates, Honduras ATM, Venezuela Spends

Is Latin America in the eye of the storm that’ll reshape the world? The region certainly benefits from the existence of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Latin America needs hedges against inflation and a quick and easy way to send remittances. The cheaper the fees, the better. And when you truly need something, you’re bound to understand it. You have bigger incentives to study, to do the work it requires.

In “Latin America, Tipping Point” we’ll provide the gentleman thief on the go with chunky headlines and bullet point wisdom. Everything you need to know about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in the region, in one convenient and well-sourced place.

Latin America In Global Crypto Adoption

• We already know that to measure “cryptocurrency adoption by ordinary people,” Chainalysis weighted everything by purchasing power parity per capita. Four countries from Latin America made it to the Top 20, in the company’s “Global Crypto Adoption Index” for 2021.

What else happened in Latin America?

Cuba Wil Recognize And Regulate Cryptocurrencies

• In search of clarity, Cuba establishes “The rules with which the Central Bank of Cuba regulates the use of certain virtual assets in commercial transactions. As well as the granting of a license to virtual asset service providers for operations related to financial, exchange and collection or payment activities, in and from the national territory.” However, people and institutions need authorization from the Central Bank of Cuba to transact using cryptocurrencies. (sight) Babysteps…
  Here’s the official document.

BTC price chart for 08/28/2021 on OkCoin | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

From Argentina To The World, The DecentralizAR Conference

• The ONG Bitcoin Argentina hosted its second annual DecentralizAR virtual conference. 11.000 people signed up. 40 people talked and hosted. 10 hours of content are available for free on the ONG’s YouTube channel. (Day 1 – Day 2) Among DecentralizAR’s hot topics for 2021, we have Bitcoin, types of cryptocurrencies, El Salvador, Mining, Decentralization, DeFi, Crypto Dollars, a deep dive into wallets, types of scams, NFTs and crypto art, etc. 

More info (in Spanish) here.

Argentina is the world’s #10 and Latin America’s #2 in crypto adoption according to Chainalysis’ “Global Crypto Adoption Index.” 

Venezuela’s Crypto Adoption, Fuelled By Lack Of $ Bills

• As you might know, Venezuela has been de facto dollarized for a couple of years now. However, there are not enough $ bills to serve the market. Cryptocurrencies are increasingly covering this need. Morocotacoin reports that more than 1700 stores and 300 supermarkets are already accepting some form of crypto. The leading coins are Bitcoin and Venezuela’s own Petro, which is heavily promoted and distributed by the country’s government.

Venezuela is Latin America’s leader in crypto adoption according to Chainalysis’ “Global Crypto Adoption Index.” 

An ATM In Honduras Exchanges BTC And ETH For Lempiras

• Besides Brock Pierce’s delegation meeting with Honduras’ president, the Central American country stayed on the news because of an ATM. Entrepreneur Juan Mayén installed La Bitcoinera, Hondura’s first crypto ATM in Tegucigalpa, the country’s capital. Using it, people will be able to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum with Lempiras. So far, you can only buy, but the company promises people will be able to sell soon enough.

Is Anything Else Crypto-Related Happening In Latin America?

Bitcoinist ramped up its El Salvador coverage because the Bitcoin Law goes into effect in less than 15 days. Just in the last week, we:

• Responded to Steve Hanke’s baseless criticism. 
• Translated Nayib Bukele’s tweetstorm about the Bitcoin Law’s latest developments, ATMs, and cashpoints. 
• Reported on The Central American Bank For Economic Integration’s contributions to the Bitcoin project.
• Questioned El Salvador’s Central Bank’s guidance for banks that want to operate a Bitcoin wallet.

That’s it for the first report on Latin America and cryptocurrencies. More to come.

Featured Image by Leon Overweel on Unsplash - Charts by TradingView