Brazil Crypto Report #176: What's ACTUALLY Driving Stablecoin Adoption in Latam? With Justin Norman
6 snips
Dec 1, 2025 
Justin Norman, a filmmaker and founder of The Flip, shares his insights on stablecoin adoption in Latin America. He reveals the surprising disconnect between Argentina’s high stablecoin transaction volumes and low retail use, highlighting that stablecoins primarily serve as tools for value storage and cross-border trade. Justin emphasizes macro conditions like currency devaluation and dollar scarcity driving this trend. He also draws interesting parallels between Latin America and African markets, showcasing the complexities of crypto adoption in emerging economies.
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On-Chain Volume ≠ Visible Retail Use
- Stablecoin volume figures can mask where and how coins are actually used on the ground.
- High on-chain volume in Argentina mostly reflects store-of-value and cross-border flows, not broad retail spending.
QR Off-Ramps Make Crypto Invisible
- Justin found low visible merchant acceptance because most on-chain payments are immediately off-ramped into pesos.
- Merchants receive pesos via Mercado Pago QR flows, making on-chain payments invisible to everyday observers.
Stablecoins As Digital Dollars For Parallel Economies
- Stablecoins often replace long-standing parallel-dollar practices rather than creating new behaviors.
- Argentinians use stablecoins because they serve the same roles as physical dollars: custody, dollar access, and escape from formal constraints.