The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, Binance, is expanding its services in Latin America. By partnering with a major digital assets settlement network, Binance will launch a new platform called Latamex. It will allow direct fiat purchases of cryptocurrencies for Latin America on its website.
Binance Gateway In Latin America
Binance is set to launch a fiat gateway platform, called Latamex, specifically designed for the Latin American market. It will allow users to purchase cryptocurrencies with fiat money easily and it will start serving customers in Argentina and Brazil first. They will be able to use Argentine Peso (ARS) and Brazilian Real (BRL) to buy some of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, and stablecoins such as BUSD.
Weighing in on the matter was Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, saying that there’s a strong need for cryptocurrencies in Latin America, as roughly 50% of the population is unbanked. He believes that Latamex should be able to meet the increasing demand and that the platform is the right move for further adoption:
“The crypto industry is still in its early stages and most of the world’s money is still in fiat. Building fiat gateways is what we need now to grow the ecosystem, increase adoption and introduce crypto to more users.”
Latamex will come to life as a result of Binance’s most recent partnership with Settle Network. The latter is among the leaders when it comes to digital assets settlement networks across Latin American for exchange and cross-border payments. The Founder and CEO of Settle Network, Pablo Orlando, also confirmed LATAM’s need for blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption:
“Latin America has illustrated one of the largest needs and use cases for blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption. Partnering with Binance has allowed us to further open fiat gateways for Latin America users together and bring larger adoption forward to provide financial freedom in the region.”
LATAM and Cryptocurrencies
Binance’s new platform announcement comes just days after the Bitcoin trading volume in Argentia broke the all-time high record at the start of December. The political turmoil in the country, resulting in inflation rates of over 50% in a single month, is supposedly turning the population to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The situation is not that different in other politically troubled Latin American countries. Chile, for instance, is continuously noting high Bitcoin trading volumes, often exceeding 240 million Chilean Peso (CLP) changing hands in a week.
Venezuela is another strong example as the country has also reportedly recorded a new all-time high Bitcoin trading volume. North of 200 billion Venezuelan Bolivar (VEF) was traded against the largest cryptocurrency at the beginning of the month.
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