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Huobi Global Acquires Latin American Crypto Exchange Bitex

26/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

Huobi Global Acquires Latin American Crypto Exchange Bitex

The digital currency exchange Huobi Global has revealed it has acquired Bitex, a Latin American crypto platform that operates in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Huobi details that the company is stepping up its presence in Latin America as it believes the region will be one of the most active crypto adoption areas worldwide.

Huobi Aims to Step Up Its Presence in Latin America, Acquires Local Bitex Exchange

On Thursday, the leading crypto asset exchange Huobi Global announced the company has acquired the Latin American cryptocurrency exchange Bitex. According to the announcement sent to Bitcoin.com News, the terms of the deal between Huobi and Bitex have not been disclosed.

Bitex is an exchange that was founded in 2014 and while Huobi will be the parent company, the trading platform will retain its current branding and management team. Bitex offers digital currency services to residents located in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile.

“Since Huobi Group first entered the Latin American market, we have seen remarkable growth there and are bullish on our prospects for the region,” Jeffrey Ma, the global head of mergers and acquisitions at Huobi Group said in a statement. “We are pleased to partner with an established player like Bitex, as we look to grow our footprint in Latin America. Our partnership will enable more users to trade with Huobi’s proven security, liquidity, and stability.”

Bitex to Keep Branding and Management, CEO Believes Huobi Will Help Expansion

While Bitex will keep its team and branding, Huobi will integrate the company’s platform with the Bitex system. The integration will give all Bitex customers access to the digital currencies offered by Huobi’s Global’s trading engine.

Huobi has been interested in stepping up its Latin American presence since 2019, when it launched Huobi Argentina. The company notes that from 2019 to 2021, Latin America saw crypto usage rise by 1,370%.

Today, Huobi Global is the fourth largest exchange by crypto trade volume, and in terms of crypto reserves, Huobi is the third largest with $11.7 billion in assets under management (AUM). Bitex CEO Francisco Buero believes Huobi will help the company’s expansion efforts.

“Bitex was founded to protect the value of our users’ money, in the wake of major financial crises in Latin America. Having grown rapidly after eight years of successful operations, we believe our partnership with Huobi Global will not only support our expansion but also help us better serve our customers, enabling them to access a broader range of digital assets on Huobi Global’s platform,” Buero detailed on Thursday.

What do you think about Huobi Global acquiring the Latin American exchange Bitex? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Filed Under: Acquisition, Bitex, Bitex CEO, Bitex customers, crypto, Crypto trading platform, Cryptocurrency Exchange, cryptocurrency exchanges, Digital Currencies, English, Francisco Buero, head of mergers and acquisitions, Huobi, Huobi Bitex, Huobi Global, Jeffrey Ma, Latin America, Latin American exchange, News, News Bitcoin

Survey: Companies Accepting Bitcoin, Crypto Have Positive Impact On Their Image

24/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

A survey from CoinsPaid saw respondents from Argentina, Brazil and Colombia positively view bitcoin as the future of money amid high inflation levels.

  • CoinsPaid recently surveyed respondents from Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia on their outlook of companies accepting bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
  • Over 50% of Brazilians, 38% of Argentinians, and 35% of Colombians view currencies like bitcoin being accepted by companies positively or think it could be the future of money.
  • After the Brazilian Senate passed a regulatory bill for cryptocurrencies, 36% of Brazilians would prefer a currency like bitcoin to be used for daily purchases.

CoinsPaid, a European cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, released research to Bitcoin Magazine that shows companies accepting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are viewed positively and provide noticeable impact on people’s lives in Brazil, Columbia and Argentina.

The survey, which was conducted this past March, showed that 50.5% of Brazilians viewed bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies being accepted by companies with a positive outlook, or that they believed cryptocurrency would be the future of money. Likewise, Argentina reported 38.1% positively towards their outlook while Colombia surveyed at 35.7%.

Respondents from all three countries reportedly stated that one of the main factors that would determine whether or not they wanted to use something like bitcoin for daily transactions is greater security in transactions. This shows a clear demand for bitcoin as its network is by far the largest and most decentralized providing the strongest form of transactional security with a verifiable and uncontrollable public ledger.

Brazilians also showed 36.3% of respondents would prefer to use a currency like bitcoin for daily purchases, which was echoed by the Brazilian Senate as they passed a bill this past February seeking to regulate the broader market.

The movement of countries like Brazil, Argentina and Colombia considering the adoption of new forms of money has not only spurred from heightened levels of inflation, but also from the inspiration provided from El Salvador in its own adoption of bitcoin as legal tender, being the first Latin American country to do so.

In April this year, Reuters reported that Argentina was experiencing over 55% inflation while a Chainalysis report shows Argentina as being the second-highest ranked country for the adoption of cryptocurrencies. Similarly, Brazil experienced a 28-year high for inflation this past April, while Colombia experienced its highest levels of inflation in over 20 years for the same time period.

Bitcoin allows countries to opt-out of controlled economies with a form of money that guarantees inflation cannot devalue their wealth over time while delivering exceptionally low fees with incontestable and incomparable security.

Filed Under: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Magazine, business, CoinsPaid, crypto, English, Latin America, News, Survey

Why Bitcoin Works For Latin America

04/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

The trustless nature of Bitcoin allows tremendous societal growth and development in places with low trust in the government and institutions.

With El Salvador’s recent transition of making bitcoin legal tender, people are beginning to take the cryptocurrency more seriously. One important consideration about President Nayib Bukele’s incorporation of Bitcoin into the country is the ability to solve numerous issues unique to Latin American economies and markets, namely, the issue of trust. While Bitcoin’s usefulness as a technology and investment vehicle is clear to market participants in the United States and other English-speaking economies, Bitcoin has special relevance to the people of Latin America. This is due to numerous social, cultural and historical precedents, not necessarily shared or fully understood by those outside of the region.

Understanding these topics and their implications for investment strategies is crucial for anyone looking for asymmetric advantage among English-speaking investors. This is simply because these elements are not fully understood or written about outside of Latin America (or even in languages other than Spanish, period). Indeed, many of these concepts are taken for granted by those who live there, thus not even making them newsworthy. This is inside information the average American is lacking, information which makes Bitcoin a smart decision for anyone betting on the future of Latin America.

Without a doubt, Latin America is one of the final frontiers of serious economic development left in the world, and it’s attracting money fast. Atlantico reported an “$18.6 billion investment into the region through the end of 2021, a staggering 250% increase in investments when compared to $5.3 billion deployed in 2020.” Those looking for outsized investment opportunities have flocked to developing economies and stock markets for decades, but the stage is set for advanced growth in this part of the world now more than ever.

Bitcoin offers unique advantages over foreign stock portfolios for several reasons. One advantage is that bitcoin is sound, unconfiscatable money that acts more like a bearer asset than a market fund or stock portfolio. Indeed, bitcoin is currently outgrowing the phrase “cryptocurrency” with its ever-growing functionality, incorporating benefits that resemble stocks, currency and bearer assets like gold all at the same time. It is quickly becoming its own unique asset class. There is not one, centralized authority that can control, stop, confiscate or inflate bitcoin. Instead, the system is distributed among millions of participants across the Earth, making it “trustless.”

A “Trustless” System Is The Perfect Solution For Low-Trust Societies

An excellent resource on societal differences in trust is Erin Meyer’s “The Culture Map” (a must-read for anyone doing cross-cultural business). As an international business consultant, Meyer points out important differences between Latin American and United States–based firms that go well beyond corporate culture; they go straight to the core of interpersonal relations.

Meyer describes how trust between business associates differs dramatically from one culture to another. She outlines the difference between “cognitive trust” and “affective trust:”

“Cognitive trust is based on the confidence you feel in another person’s accomplishments, skills and reliability. This is trust that comes from the head. It is often built through business interactions: We work together, you do your work well and you demonstrate through the work that you are reliable, pleasant, consistent, intelligent and transparent. Result: I trust you.

“Affective trust, on the other hand, arises from feelings of emotional closeness, empathy or friendship. This type of trust comes from the heart. We laugh together, relax together, and see each other at a personal level, so that I feel affection or empathy for you and sense that you feel the same for me. Result: I trust you.”

Countries in Latin American function much more on an “affective trust” paradigm. Meyer explains that because of very low faith in institutions and the legal system, residents of these societies need a sense of personal trust in their associates before working together. In comparison to the lawsuit-happy United States, many Latin Americans have good reason to believe that if they are jilted in a deal, there will be no legal recourse to get their money back. As such, personal references and bonding are important in a way that the average American just doesn’t really understand. In fact, this is the opposite of the U.S., where “business is business.” In the words of Meyer, in lower-trust societies, “Business is personal.”

As a result, this obviously creates a slowdown in many processes. Add this to Latin America’s stunning record of central bank hyperinflations and widespread political corruption and you would be a lot slower to trust too. Bitcoin is important in Latin America because it takes large institutions, governments, powerful corporations and central banks out of the picture and allows direct, instant, peer-to-peer transactions between individuals and businesses alike.

Bitcoin Removes The Trust Factor Entirely

The implications for this are huge. There’s a reason that Bukele — president of a country with hyperinflation so severe that they just gave up on having their own money — has instituted bitcoin as national currency. It solves the trust factor that Latin Americans know so well, of all their life savings becoming worthless in a matter of months. Yes, Bitcoin has volatility, but no volatility so extreme as that of the Venezuelan bolivar, the Argentine peso, the Mexican peso or indeed, the Salvadoran colón over the past few decades. In a volatile environment, people seek out solutions that deprioritize trust in outside institutions and maximize trust in trusted personal transactions. With Bitcoin, there is no middleman, government or otherwise, to get in the way of said transaction.

Just imagine when smart contracts go live in earnest on the Liquid network, and you will see for the first time an enforcement of contracts that is only enabled in the U.S. by our trusted court and police systems. These will encourage economic development and opportunity that has been stifled for many years in Latin America. These are guaranteed contracts built on the hardest money ever created. This is a cultural difference that gives dimensions of value to bitcoin that few in the U.S. can even comprehend. They are not factoring that into their bitcoin price predictions. This is not even to mention the utility of being able to move money across borders with safety and ease, another common Latin American business requirement that most Americans do not account for.

A trustless transactional system built on sound money that cannot be reversed, confiscated or inflated away fixes the fundamental obstacles to widespread Latin American economic development. Latin America is a powerhouse of industry with over half a billion consumers and rich natural resources; however, because of complex economic obstacles, it has not yet been able to fulfill its potential on a global scale. We are quite possibly on the edge of seeing that potential fulfilled and experiencing a type of growth that has not been witnessed in our lifetimes.

If bitcoin becomes the new gold standard for this entire region’s economic development, do you want to be late to the party?

This is a guest post by Nico Antuna Cooper. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.

Filed Under: Bitcoin Magazine, culture, English, institutions, Latin America, Opinion, Social Network, trust

Mercadolibre Gets Closer to Crypto With Investments in Paxos and Mercado Bitcoin

24/01/2022 by Idelto Editor

mercadolibre

Mercadolibre, one of the biggest Latam-based unicorns, has announced strategic investments in two cryptocurrency exchanges: Paxos and Mercado Bitcoin. With these investments, the platform gets closer to cryptocurrency, having already bought bitcoin as a direct investment for its treasury, and offering the possibility of investing in crypto for its users in several countries in Latam.

Mercadolibre Puts More Money Behind Crypto

Mercadolibre, one of the biggest e-commerce platforms in Latam, with more than 70 million customers, announced strategic investments in two exchange platforms. The Latam-based unicorn announced on January 20th it had acquired shares of 2TM, the parent company of Mercado Bitcoin, one of the leading exchanges in Brazil, with three million customers. The company also invested in Paxos, a stablecoin issuer and blockchain infrastructure provider.

The amounts invested in each of these companies were not provided, but the company informed that the objective of the investments was to “stimulate the regional ecosystem, allowing it to offer increasingly relevant products and services to Latin American entrepreneurs and users, who are at the heart of its strategy.”

On this investment, Andre Chaves, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development for Mercadolibre, stated:

2TM and Paxos share this vision and our conviction to continue innovating to offer solutions which improve people’s lives, generate value and drive the development of our region. We want everyone to be able to access the digital assets market in a simple and transparent way, this is our goal.

The Company in Crypto

The company’s relationship with cryptocurrencies is not new. Mecadolibre has been a cryptocurrency-friendly company for quite some time. The investment in the company Paxos was preceded by a partnership established last year, that allowed some customers of the company to invest in cryptocurrencies directly in Mercadolibre’s platform through Mercadopago, in Brazil. At that time, the company announced it would roll this service to other countries later this year.

Also, the company is one of the few in Latam that have officially reported owned crypto as part of its treasury. It announced it had bought almost $8 million in bitcoin (BTC) last May when it reported the financial results for Q1 2021. However, the giant has failed to allow customers to pay for goods and services, which is its main business, with cryptocurrencies, and it has not announced a possible date for the introduction of this functionality.

What do you think about Mercadolibre’s investment in Paxos and MercadoBitcoin? Tell us in the comments section below.

Filed Under: Bitcoin, Brazil, cryptocurrency, English, latam, Latin America, Mercadolibre, Mercadolibre crypto, MercadoPago, News, News Bitcoin, Paxos

El Salvador Government Advisor Mónica Taher Is Empowering Women Through Bitcoin

17/01/2022 by Idelto Editor

Taher, an advisor for the government of El Salvador, discusses how Bitcoin can be a critical tool for empowering women in Latin America.

With more than 73,000 Twitter followers, Mónica Taher is an influential thought leader focused on personal finance, fashion and entrepreneurship, who is passionate about empowering women in El Salvador and internationally through Bitcoin.

As a native of San Salvador and technology and economic international affairs advisor for El Salvador’s trade investments secretariat, Taher has played a significant role in guiding her country to lead the world in Bitcoin adoption. In this exclusive interview for Bitcoin Magazine, she shared her thoughts on the big picture of Bitcoin adoption specifically for women in El Salvador, as well as worldwide.

Taher (center) leading a panel at LaBitConf. Photo credit: @Bitcoin4Couples.

What cultural barriers keep women from thriving in the Bitcoin space?

If you look at numbers in the U.S. within the technology ecosystem, only 24% of those people happen to be women, so it is just a consequence that we’re going to have similar numbers for Bitcoin.

For us in El Salvador and in any other Latin American society, we also have another factor that impedes women from competing at the same level with men: machismo. It does exist, we cannot deny it. It’s very hard to penetrate an area that is traditionally male dominated because we’re also talking about the finance and banking industries, which are dominated by men. If you add the fact that there are less women on [corporate] boards here in El Salvador, I think it is just a reflection of what we see in technology in general.

Author’s Note: “Machismo” is a heavily-loaded word in Latin American culture and not just the Latin equivalent to the American idea of male chauvinism. Its origins can be tied to concepts that knights were meant to possess as the feudal system was giving way to the Renaissance. Though the concept of machismo did not start as a negative feature for a man to possess, it has attained an almost purely negative connotation in modern Latin American culture. As such, machismo represents “all that is wrong in a man,” according to some contemporary studies, including violence, recklessness and misogyny.

What does a financially-empowered woman in Latin America look like?

Because we’re talking about money and not just Bitcoin, the ideal scenario for a woman in Latin America would look like a woman who is really well educated about her personal finances. She is not only academically educated, but also starts investing at an early age. We grow up with parents telling us “you should save,” but they don’t teach us how or in what financial vehicles. We’re not getting that type of education in elementary school where it should start.

For a society to empower women, there needs to be an educational reform in regards to finances where everybody learns about saving and investing in the real world. Schools prepare people to either fail in society or just to be employees as opposed to teaching how to be entrepreneurs. As opposed to teaching us how to have a nine-to-five job, they should teach students how to run a business. That’s what, for me, an empowered woman in Latin America would look like. More entrepreneurs, women who are more daring about starting a business, who have the ability to access capital and the tools to create wealth.

How can Bitcoin help make that vision a reality?

70% of the population in El Salvador don’t have bank accounts, which is huge. Out of the 70%, the majority happen to be women. How can Bitcoin help them in El Salvador?

Number one, they will have access to digital money because everyone has a phone here. You can be really poor in El Salvador and still own a phone because many get remittances and everybody wants to be online. Data shows that a large percentage of the population owns two phones because it’s very easy to buy mobile chips if you have a cell phone number in Latin America.

Number two, they will have access to more buying power. A person sending a remittance, let’s say to me, is not going to pay extra fees because they’ll be using the Chivo wallet. And I’m not going to be paying any fees either because I’m also going to be using the Chivo wallet.

Author’s Note: There are a growing variety of Lightning wallets besides the state-sponsored Chivo wallet that Salvadorans can use to avoid fees while sending/receiving money from abroad.

So right there, for sending $200 they’re going to save from $10 to $15. That’s money for them! Everybody wants to save. Even if it’s $1 or $5, they want to save. So that’s another thing, more buying power.

Number three, bitcoin opens the door for lower interest rates if they want to get a loan. Right now, if you want to buy a home in El Salvador, interest rates are ranging from 12% to 15% which is ridiculous. Many people cannot buy homes because of that. On top of that, you need to give the down payment and sometimes you don’t have enough assets to show that you can back up that investment, so they don’t give you the loan. Some companies offer loans backed by bitcoin and they offer interest rates as low as 2%. Which rate are you going to take if your options are 12% or 2%? Two percent, of course! Access to housing gives you access to many other things because now you own a home and can work toward a better life.

The fourth point is that Bitcoin really shows and teaches you how to save and how to invest. You can go around the corner and buy coffee with bitcoin, but at the same time you can save that $5 to $10 because you’re thinking, “Oh my God, this thing [bitcoin] is going to go up [in value].” You’re forced to save in a way and it’s teaching people to do that. So there are a lot of advantages. Bitcoin is going to change society, I’m absolutely convinced.”

What is your message to Latinas in Bitcoin as they start on their journeys?

Definitely to get educated. We’re seeing what’s happening with academia, the status quo is changing. Meaning that perhaps now you don’t really need to do the four years to get your bachelor’s degree because you can do it online through any institution. There are so many platforms that can help you get hired and start making a lot of money as a programmer or developer. What I would say to women is to definitely get educated. It doesn’t matter if they do it online because they want to save money and don’t want to go to a four-year college. Just get educated on the careers of the future because that’s what’s going to help them have a bigger, more powerful future.

How can social media play a role in educating women on Bitcoin?

I’m pretty vocal on social media, and I really think that more women should do that as well. The more women start talking about Bitcoin on social media, then they’re going to have more followers because women are going to be intrigued about the fact that these women are talking about Bitcoin. And then it’s going to be a chain reaction, a domino effect, more and more women will join. Even if it’s just virtual, at least they’re going to get educated because they’re going to start watching videos and reading comments and putting two and two together. I really think that social media gives us an incredible platform to amplify these messages and all women should do it.

Conclusion

As Tehar makes clear, though Latin American women face unique hurdles on their paths toward leading in the technology and business arenas, they can leverage the benefits of Bitcoin to clear those barriers and usher in a new era of equality in fields traditionally dominated by men. The power of education cannot be understated, as education can create a bright future for girls growing up in Latin America and beyond. And with accessibility to learning via technology at an unprecedented level in history, that future is within reach.

As El Salvador continues to lead the world in Bitcoin adoption, Taher will continue to pave the way for Salvadorans and Latin Americans of all kinds to thrive on the Bitcoin standard.

This is a guest post by Josh Doña. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

Filed Under: Bitcoin Magazine, business, Chivo Wallet, el salvador, English, Feature, Government, Latin America, Mónica Taher, Women

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