South America

Tether, the issuer of the world’s most traded stablecoin, will invest in power generation and Bitcoin mining in Uruguay to tap the country’s renewable energy resources, the company said on Tuesday.

Banco Central do Brasil, the central bank of Brazil, has selected 14 institutions to participate in the pilot run of the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) named Real Digital.

Gold bars, cash, jewelry, cars and luxury watches bought with defrauded funds are seized.

Polkadot will hold its first hackathon that focuses on Latin America starting Sept. 26 to engage local developers in the network and promote the uses of blockchain around the world. See related article: Polkadot is top crypto held by VCs and hedge funds in Q4 2021 Fast facts See related article: Polkadot-based Acala Dollar burns […]

Argentina’s tax collection agency (AFIP) has concluded its first-ever operations against illegal and “clandestine” crypto mining farms operating within the country, the agency announced last week. See related article: Crypto miners should disclose energy data, US lawmakers say Fast facts The AFIP conducted four raids on crypto farms that were under the guise of other […]

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM) has banned Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit from brokering “securities” within the country.   See related article: Thailand mandates warnings on crypto ads Fast facts The CVM released a declaratory act, in an announcement on Monday, that ordered the suspension of Bybit’s security offerings and intermediation services directly or […]

The western Argentine province of Mendoza — the fifth most populous in the country — now accepts cryptocurrency as a payment option for taxes, the Mendoza Tax Administration (ATM) announced on Saturday. See related article: El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption, one week on Fast facts Mendoza’s roughly 2 million residents will now be able to pay […]

Binance has obtained a license from the Central Bank of Bahrain to operate as a crypto service provider, marking a significant step for the crypto exchange to expand in the Middle East. See related article: Binance eyes gaming, e-commerce in upcoming acquisition spree Fast facts Binance will be allowed to offer crypto trading, custodial and […]

El Salvador — the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September — plans on building the world’s first “Bitcoin City,” an entire city to be funded by Bitcoin bonds and powered by geothermal energy from one of the country’s many volcanoes, according to El Salvador’s official presidential Twitter page. […]

Covid laid bare the gaps in people’s access to banking services. Moeda Seeds is looking not just to fill the gaps but to change the banking paradigm.

The Central American nation is the first to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. As many countries face similar issues of large unbanked population and high remittance fees, will others follow suit?

Brazil’s legislators are expected to discuss in the next few days a bill that seeks to establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, which may be a major step toward making Bitcoin a legal “payment currency” in the country if approved by the congress. Fast facts Bill 2.303/15, proposed by Federal Deputy Aureo Ribeiro, aims to […]

Black Friday for Korean exchanges while E-CNY launch in final stretch

It’s hot on Bitcoin Beach and the Twitterverse, but the new legal tender doesn’t have uptake elsewhere in the Central American country.

Following crypto’s adoption in one struggling economy, nations in Latin America and elsewhere are now weighing the pros and cons of digital currency

Just one day after El Salvador’s highly-anticipated adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, the country’s recently acquired nest egg of 400 BTC lost roughly US$2.5 million in value as the entire crypto market saw a loss of 10% to 15% in 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.com Fast facts Bitcoin was trading around a four-month high […]

A week out from El Salvador’s adoption of BTC as legal tender, the country’s legislative assembly has approved a US$150 million trust to help facilitate exchange between BTC and the U.S. dollar – the nation’s current official currency, according to a report by local newspaper El Diario de Hoy. Fast facts Last week, Forkast.News reported […]

In preparation for El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as legal tender, the nation is rolling out 200 ATMs and preparing 50 bank branches across the nation to allow residents to exchange crypto for fiat easily, President Nayib Bukele has announced over the weekend via Twitter. Fast facts With El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption bill coming into effect […]

In what will likely be a relief for many Salvadorans, El Salvador’s finance minister said the use of BTC will remain “totally optional” and businesses will not be sanctioned for not using it when the country’s controversial BTC law comes into effect on Sept. 7, reports Yahoo News. Fast facts The country’s adoption of BTC […]

In another criticism of El Salvador’s planned Bitcoin adoption, global credit scoring agency Fitch Ratings has warned the move will likely adversely affect credit ratings of the country’s insurance sector, due to heightened foreign exchange and earnings volatility risk. Fast facts Fitch Ratings explained in a press release on Monday that once a law comes […]

In an effort to curb runaway inflation, Venezuela’s central bank is removing six zeros from its currency and putting a digital bolivar into circulation on Oct. 1, according to reporting by Bloomberg. Fast facts An example of a central bank digital currency, the digital bolivar was announced by the Venezuelan central bank’s Twitter account yesterday […]

Lawmaker Carlos Rejala tamped down speculation that Paraguay might follow El Savador’s footsteps in making Bitcoin legal tender.

Following El Salvador’s move to become the first country in the world to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender, a Paraguayan congressman has announced plans to do the same in the South American nation next month.

The El Salvadorean Department of Labor and Social Welfare has had to clarify it is not within its purview to determine whether salaries can be paid in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin transactions in El Salvador during May increased by more than four times compared to a year ago, yet fiat remittances still represent the vast majority of transactions in the country.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele to finalize discussions around a pandemic relief loan to support the Central American nation. In a Thursday press briefing, IMF spokesman Garry Rice also implied that El Salvador’s decision to make Bitcoin a national currency will be a focus of the meeting for the IMF team.

El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin has the world buzzing. Can Singapore be next? China mining crackdown continues.

Hong Kong looks to explore CBDC feasibility as Australian millennials favor investing in crypto over traditional assets.

Now that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s Bitcoin-as-legal-tender bill is almost reality, what will it mean for BTC investors around the world?

El Salvador is proposing a bill to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in the Central American nation. In a videotaped announcement shown at the Bitcoin 2021 Conference in Miami, President Nayib Bukele said he would submit the bill this week.

Startups are aiming to apply blockchain technology to help everyday consumers track the meat they buy at supermarkets back to the source.