Brazil Crypto Report

Nearly two years after first entering the Brazil market, Bitso Brasil received its payment institution license last week from the Brazilian Central Bank. The license will enable the exchange to offer a new array of financial products and services in the market. I took the occasion to catch up with Bitso CEO Daniel Vogel and Thales de Freitas, CEO of Bitso Brasil, to discuss the new license as well as the ups and downs of Bitso’s first two years of operating in Brazil. These include reaching one million customers, adoption of novel cross-border payment mechanisms that use crypto rails and becoming a leader in the crypto regulatory conversation in Brasilia. Other themes we discussed include: The successes and struggles of launching in Brazil during a complicated market cycle The importance of building new bridges between crypto and the Tradfi worlds Bitso’s value proposition to customers in an increasingly competitive market A glimpse into Bitso’s 2023 Brazil roadmap Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.  

Juliana Walenkamp is the head of institutional sales for Latam at BitGo in Brazil and has spent time representing other Web3 household names like Ripple, Gemini and Transfero in the region. In this conversation we dive into the evolution of BitGo as a company since first offering basic multi-sig products in 2013 to becoming a full-fledged qualified custodian that offers a plethora of other products such as liquidity, staking and access to decentralized finance portals through Metamask. We also touch on: the challenges international companies like BitGo face when entering Brazil why BitGo will be applying for a virtual asset service provider license in Brazil the importance of custodying crypto assets with a regulated or “qualified” custodian with a fiduciary responsibility how institutional interest in crypto products is growing in Brazil the importance of asset segregation practices post-FTX BitGo’s role in the Latam market vis-a-vis competitors like Fireblocks, Coinbase, Gemini, etc. You can connect with Juliana on Linkedin. Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.  

For today’s episode I brought in one of the Brazil’s top crypto journalists and one of the its leading Web3 investors to discuss the potential impacts of this technology on Brazil’s economy. Both are friends and previous guests of the show João Zecchin is a co-founder of Fuse Capital, which is one of Brazil’s first Web3 native venture capital firms. You can listen to my previous episode with him here. Paulo Alves is the crypto editor at InfoMoney, which is one of Brazil’s leading financial media publications. (Previous episode here) Some of the themes we discuss: why the money transfer use case in Brazil has largely been solved by Pix how the Digital Real will unlock “real world” asset tokenization use cases that produce real yield for holders, and how these developments could unlock new capital flows into the country what Digital Real innovation will mean for existing commercial banks and how it can stimulate greater competition in the Brazilian financial system potential new new products and services that could be unlocked via Digital Real infrastructure Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.  

Mauricio Magaldi of Blockchain Insider joins to discuss his predictions for the Brazil crypto ecosystem in 2023. We touch on the Brazil regulatory angle, technology adoption and the growth of asset tokenization projects in the country.    You can follow Mauricio and Blockchain Insider on Spotify  Also be sure to check out his Portuguese language podcast BlockDrops  Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.  

Gustavo Cunha is a Brazilian financial services veteran turned crypto enthusiast, podcaster and writer. In this episode we discuss the Brazilian Central Bank's efforts to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) called the Digital Real. We discuss: - the Digital Real pilot announced on March 6 - the Bank's decision to use Hyperledger Besu for the Digital Real's underlying infrastructure - the goal of the Digital Real serving as infrastructure for a tokenized financial system in Brazil - how the Digital Real stacks up against other CBDC projects around the world - the difference between Pix and the Digital Real, and how the two will interact with one another once fully operative You can follow Gustavo's work on his social channels below: Newsletter: @Fintrender LinkedIn: @Fintrender Instagram: @Fintrender Twitter: @Fintrender Facebook: @Fintrender Podcast: Fintechs e novos investimentos Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem. Follow Brazil Crypto Report on Linkedin and Twitter

Portal do Bitcoin reporter Fernando Martines joins the podcast to discuss the emergence and collapse of Braiscompany - a R$1.5 billion (US$289 million) cryptocurrency pyramid scheme that operated out of the northeastern state of Paraíba. In what some have dubbed as Brazil's last major bitcoin Ponzi scheme, the operation involved everyone from local politicians and business leaders to an estimated 10,000 retail investors from around the country.  Braiscompany provided handsome monthly payouts to investors while enriching its extravagant and charismatic founders Antonio Neto Ais and Fabrícia Campos. The music stopped in late 2022 when it ceased making payments amid the crypto market collapse, prompting a backlash from angry customers and inquiries from authorities.  The company's headquarters were raided on February 16 by Federal Police. However, Neto Ais and Campos were nowhere to be seen when authorities arrived and remain at-large, with some suspecting that they fled to Argentina. Authorities in Paraíba have appealed to Interpol for assistance in tracking them down.  Meanwhile, the company remains leaderless and directionless. Employees have been advised to retain their own person legal counsel. Unfortunately, the prospects of Braiscompany investors recouping their money looks bleak. Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem. Follow Brazil Crypto Report on Linkedin and Twitter

João Marco Braga da Cunha is a Brazilian economist and portfolio manager with Hashdex, Brazil's largest crypto asset manager. In this episode we discuss a proposal being propagated recently by Brazilian and Argentine leaders about creating a shared currency between the two countries as a way to stimulate trade and reduce dependence on the US dollar. The idea generated a lot of coverage within the crypto community, as even Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong weighed in on Twitter suggesting that the countries should simply adopt bitcoin. João Marco explains the origin of this shared currency idea, why it might have actually worked in the 1990s when both countries had similar monetary policies, the likely political motivations behind the proposal and what role crypto or digital currency could play here.  Also take a look at this op-ed on the subject that João Marco wrote for CoinTelegraph  Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem. Follow Brazil Crypto Report on Linkedin and Twitter 

Karen Duque is head of public policy at Bitso Brasil and previously worked on Brazil policy at Google and Didi, a rideshare company. Julien Dutra is head of government relations at 2TM/Mercado Bitcoin. Before joining in January 2022, he led Brazil government affairs for Experian.  Both are seasoned tech policy professionals in Brasília and were critical in the successful effort to pass crypto legislation in late 2022. Once fully implemented, this new law should establish Brazil as a world leader in crypto regulation.  In this joint interview, Karen and Julien give us a behind the scenes look at the law itself, the drama and theatrics surrounding its passage and the next steps in implementing the law and establishing a licensing framework for cryptocurrency businesses in the country. Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem. You can follow both Karen and Julien on Linkedin

Axel Blikstad is a founding partner at BLP Crypto and a two-decade veteran of traditional finance with stints at BTG Pactual, Santander, Banco Garantia and ABN Amro. BLP Crypto is Brazil's oldest crypto fund manager, having launched its first fund in December 2017. In this episode we discuss the ramifications of the FTX collapse on the Brazil crypto ecosystem and how he was able to liquidate his FTT position before the collapse.  Follow Axel on Linkedin and Twitter  Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.

Andre Franco is the head of research at Mercado Bitcoin and the host of the Francamente Crypto podcast. In this episode we examine how the collapse of FTX impacts Brazil's emerging crypto scene. We look explore the ramifications for retail and institutional investors, prospects for regulation and what it will take to rebuild trust among users. We also explore what this means for the broader crypto market, including decentralized finance as a potential solution to centralized exchange model.  Follow Andre on social media Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.