Latam Insights – Latest crypto and business news from Latin America
Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of the most relevant crypto and economic news from the past week in Latin America. In this edition: the Argentine peso reaches historic lows, Tether (USDT) dominates the Brazilian market with more than 80% of transactions and Binance obtains a full license in El Salvador.
Argentine peso hits historic lows ahead of elections
The Argentine peso reached historic lows this week, with an exchange rate of 605 pesos to the US dollar. Economic analysts associate this accelerated devaluation with the uncertainty linked to the second round of general elections, during which Argentines chose their candidates for the next elections.
Mateo Reschini, research analyst at Inviu, explained that large donors preferred to hedge their investments in foreign currencies to counter possible fluctuations due to the election outcome. Reschini said
The market takes note of the importance of the upcoming election date and decides to hedge against possible exchange rate fluctuations, supported by economists' statements, the IMF statement and media hype.
The fall of the Argentine peso will also have an impact on the consumer price index (CPI) in August. Private companies forecast a CPI increase of more than 9% this month, placing Argentina among the countries with the highest inflation in the world.
Tether dominated the Brazilian cryptocurrency market by more than 80% in the first and second quarters of 2023
USDT, the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, was the main player in the Brazilian cryptocurrency market in the first and second quarters of 2023. The Brazilian tax administration released data that confirms that more than 80% of transactions made during this period involved USDT. This means that more than 90 billion reais (nearly 18.4 billion US dollars) have been traded with the stablecoin in Brazil.
In addition, 3.2 million people purchased cryptocurrencies last June, which is a record. Businesses also saw record numbers when it came to purchasing cryptocurrencies.
Binance obtains full crypto-exchange license in El Salvador
Binance, the cryptocurrency company, announced that it has obtained a full license as a crypto exchange in El Salvador. It has obtained two operating licenses: a Bitcoin Service Provider (BSP) license and a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) license.
Min Lin, Director of Binance Latin America, commented:
This announcement comes after many months of hard work by our team to provide all the information and carry out the due diligence required by the authorities. In this way we show our commitment to the Salvadoran market and our users.
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