The crypto trading platform Bitso reported a 1,000% rise in the number of individual users from Columbia since the same period last year. The company also diversified its selection of products and services for retail and institutional clients. Crypto adoption has been rising worldwide due to inflation and the looming prospects of the dollar crash.
Bitso, a global digital asset exchange founded in 2014 in Mexico, has been one of Latin America’s most popular crypto platforms. Last year the company arrived in Colombia with its stablecoin offer, promoting asset and savings options less exposed to volatility shocks through currencies such as Tether (USDT), Euro Coin (EUROC), and gold-backed PAX Gold (PAXG), attracting immense interest from retail clients looking to secure their funds from depreciation.
The LATAM region has been at the forefront of crypto adoption, with Brazil and Mexico topping the list of the countries with residents most likely to purchase crypto in the coming year, according to the last year’s Gemini report.
Similar trends are on the rise in other Latin American countries. According to research from GWI, ownership of cryptocurrencies in Argentina was the second-highest in the world at 23.5%, right after Turkey with estimated 27.1% – in both cases, a significant advantage over the global average of 11.9%. Both countries have been struggling with raving inflation exceeding 50% year-on-year in Turkey and reaching 104% in Argentina, as per data for March 2023.
A classic example of a massive and, at the same time, successful crypto adoption is El Salvador, where Bitcoin has been a legal tender since 2021. In February this year, even the International Monetary Fund (IMF), one of the guardians of the fiat system, admitted that El Salvador’s Bitcoin risks “have not materialized”.
Considering the possibility of the dollar default, countries in other regions may soon follow suit. In Lebanon, where inflation has apparently hit the roof with the annual rate nearing 300%, citizens turned to crypto for daily sustenance like buying groceries.
