- During the first half of 2022, the Bitso exchange has processed $1 billion in the remittance sector.
- Compared to the same period in 2021, remittance trade in 2022 represents a growth of 400%.
- For the second half of this year, it is expected that another $1,000 million dollars will be sent through the platform to total $2,000 million in the year and expand this service to other countries in which they have a presence, such as Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.
Cryptocurrencies were created to avoid intermediaries and facilitate peer-to-peer transactions, and although the first point is far from being a reality because centralized exchanges are the ones that dominate the scene, the second is largely true and Mexico is one of them. of the countries that benefit most from the economy of the future.
Remittance trade between Mexico and the United States is huge, the second largest in the world behind India. bitso, the most prominent local exchange in the market, which has expanded to other regions of Latin America such as Argentina, Brazil and Colombia, it won a good part of the cake and reported that in the first half of 2022 it processed 1,000 million dollars from this sector.
Compared to the same period of 2021, in the midst of a pandemic, represents absolute growth: 400%. For the second half of this year, it is expected that another $1,000 million dollars will be sent through the platform to total $2,000 million in the year.
Through a statement, Carlos Lovera, Bitso’s Business Development leader, pointed out the importance of the remittance market in the Mexico-United States corridor for the firm and also pointed out the importance of remittances for many citizens of the country, since many “they depend on remittances to access a dignified life and satisfy their basic needs”, reason that motivates them to expand this service to other countries in which they have a presence such as Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.
Remittances through Bitso
Bitso allows the deposit of five fiat currencies: Mexican pesos, US dollars, Argentine pesos, Colombian pesos and Brazilian real. In addition, in recent months it has worked to incorporate a dozen cryptocurrencies to finally total 39, two of them stable.
This growth registered during the first part of the year invites Bitso to continue to be excited about moving forward. The exchange processed 4% of total remittances during the first quarter of 2022 and is betting on reaching 10%. In addition, it has already reached 5 million users in Latin America. The first dream of the company was more than fulfilled
“When we started the company, we talked about the potential of cryptocurrencies to be used for remittances. And I dreamed of a world where Bitso could process 1% of remittances sent from the United States to Mexico.”, explained Daniel Vogel, CEO of Bitso, in a conversation with CoinDeskwithin the framework of the Consensus 2022 event.
Mexico, a large remittance market
The World Bank reported that Mexico was the second country in the world with the largest amount of remittances in 2021 only behind India. The funds received reach the figure of $51,600 million dollars and 95% of them came from the United States, which has the largest Mexican population outside the national territory.
These volumes of money are an attraction for different companies and Bitso has strong competition. Last month, Tether launched MXNT, a stablecoin that tracks the price of the Mexican peso, while Coinbase allows you to sell cryptocurrencies and get paid in the same currency.
Beyond this great processing power, the downward cycle in the sector hit Bitso as well as other companies. The company recently announced that it will have to cut costs and for that reason it laid off 80 employees.
Previously, Bitso signed a partnership with Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, to “launch an international transfer product, which allows small businesses and freelancers to exchange their dollars for stablecoins and then convert them into Mexican pesos”.
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