In Latin America, Crypto Payments Are Taking Off

There are many facets to the ever-evolving crypto space. While memecoins, Zkrollup, and AI are currently trending within Web3, one use case that is constantly at the forefront is crypto as payments. Crypto being used as a form of transferring value is one of the industry’s most foundational aspects and it continues its meteoric rise in popularity throughout the world today.

BitPay reports having executed 332k transactions using cryptocurrencies as a form of payment in the past six months, and experts confirm the value of payment transactions driven by stablecoins was close to 53 billion dollars in 2023.

Exploring the topic of payments, Ernesto Contreras, an industry pioneer, founder and Business Development Director in the crypto space stated that, "Payment solutions have changed over time within crypto, and today Stablecoins have taken the lead."

Stablecoins As A Proven Method For Cryptocurrency Payments

Contreras mentions stablecoins are a preferred payment option because exchanging goods and services for a currency necessitates there being little to no fluctuation in the value of the underlying asset. This has limited Bitcoin and altcoins as options, due to their everchanging price. In support of this claim, Contreras goes on to say, “Even though stablecoins represent just under 10% of the market capitalization, data shows that they represent more than 70% of the on-chain transaction volume.” This data strongly supports the idea that Stablecoins are the preferred choice for remittance in the space. 

Regarding the recent crypto bull market, Contreras mentioned the bullish fluctuations in Bitcoin’s price invites global attention to the crypto industry, while also increasing interest and validation from builders in other fields. In turn, this will accelerate the integration of Stablecoins and crypto for settlement purposes, internal processes, and overall societal acceptance of crypto.

Latin America: The Largest Adopter

Contreras & other prominent industry figures consider Latin America as the leader of Stablecoin and cryptocurrency use globally. This part of the world already has millions of crypto adopters who use Stablecoins as an option to their local currencies, as having access to smartphones enables banking-like capabilities.

Contreras emphasized the findings of Chainalysis's recent report on crypto adoption, which highlights how cryptocurrencies have become a daily part of life for users in Latin America. Cryptocurrency is particularly valuable in minimizing the effects of economic strife in countries like Argentina and Venezuela. Countries like Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina & Mexico consistently have high rankings in such studies due to the significant positive impact crypto has on their economies.

How will Latin America keep up this trend?

Despite fast-paced initial growth, Contreras believes the region can be empowered significantly more with a digital dollar solution. Cryptocurrency is an ideal avenue for economic prosperity because of its possibility to improve day-to-day transactions.

As an example, he cites sending fiat remittances to Latin America, as a process he classifies as “complex.” The sender sometimes has to pay up to 20% in commissions, there are hours of delays for money to reach its destination, and there can even be a complete loss of funds as the money passes through intermediaries, when informal markets are used.

This systematic issue is what inspired Contreras to build UnAlivio. UnAlivio is a platform that makes digital payments efficient, simple & fast for everyday people. He explains UnAlivio as, “A system for migrants to pay for medical services while abroad by using their regular financial account transfer systems, debit cards, and from now on Bitcoin and USDC stablecoin as well.”

UnAlivio aims to achieve an easy-to-use solution for those who need to instantly pay for medical services for their loved ones from wherever they may be in the world. This will simplify the transaction experience for people while allowing any merchant in the UnAlivio network to receive digital dollars immediately.

Crypto payments made easy, for the masses. That is the UnAlivio future, and that is why we operate in Latin America: this is where we can make an impact.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.