Brazil Crypto Report

This week I’m trying out a new podcast format in which I bring on a guest to discuss and analyze the biggest crypto news developments in the region. This will be an ongoing experiment as I attempt to cover more crypto news across the Latam beyond Brazil. This week, my guest is Andres Engler, who is the Latin America Editor at CoinDesk and is based in Argentina. In this week’s episode we talk through the following news events and articles from the last 1-2 weeks.  Crypto Loans Are Booming in Latin America Amid Runaway Bank Rates and Inflation (CoinDesk) The 500 Most Influential People in Latin America (Bloomberg Linea) Brazil’s Securities Regulator Probes Crypto Exchange Mercado Bitcoin on Token Issuance (CoinDesk) Crypto Exchange Bybit Halts Derivatives Trading in Brazil After Exchange Commission Ban (CoinDesk) Strike CEO: El Salvador’s Bitcoin Experience ‘Doesn’t Hurt My Company at All’ (CoinDesk) Crypto Exchange Huobi Global Enables Cryptocurrency Purchases With Fiat in Latin America (CoinDesk) Bitcoin Miner Bitfarms Starts Production in Argentina, Increases Hashrate to 4.1 EH/s (CoinDesk) Paraguay’s President Vetoes Bill That Would Regulate Crypto Mining and Trading (CoinDesk) Digital Wallet Provider MetaMask Allows Crypto Purchases With Brazilian Reals (CoinDesk) El Salvador Buys Back $565M Worth of Bonds, Plans to Launch New Offering in 8 Weeks (CoinDesk)

Bobby Ong is the COO and co-founder of CoinGecko. Based out of Malaysia, CoinGecko rivals CoinMarketCap for supremacy atop the world of crypto price and data platforms. In this episode we talk about how CoinGecko grew from a side hustle project run from Bobby's bedroom into one of the most popular coin data websites in the world. We also dive into how meme coins and play-to-earn gaming tokens are becoming massive adoption onramps for emerging market economies like Brazil and Malaysia.  Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.

Maxim Piessen is the chief technology at Credix, a decentralized credit marketplace that is one of the most intriguing crypto startups to emerge out of Brazil recently and one of just a handful of companies out there that are connecting decentralized finance with real-world assets. Credix is a Solana-based marketplace that connects institutional investors with fintechs and non-bank loan originators in Latam markets, who are themselves providing loans to small businesses and local borrowers. Since launching in January, the platform now has 25 investors and 10 fintechs participating, 20 employees and more than US$25 million in total credit issued - with a goal of $100 million by the end of 2022. Since forming last November, the team recently raised R$50 million (US$11.25 million) in a Series A round announced earlier this month. The round was led by Motive Partners and ParaFi Capital, with Valor Capital, Fuse Capital, Circle Ventures and several others contributing. Please note: we recorded this episode before the round was formally announced. I highly encourage you to learn more about this project at credix.finance. Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.

Renata Rodrigues is global community and education lead at Paxful, which is one of the world's largest peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplaces. The platform recently hit 10 million users globally and is now making a push to bring financial education to users across Brazil and Latin America. We discuss how Paxful's platform operates, how it's providing financial opportunities to under-banked populations and its new partnership with the Guetto Institute, a Rio de Janeiro-based non-profit that aims to foster entrepreneurship in the Black community, to provide bitcoin education to underserved communities.  Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.

Mila Rioja is Latam Lead at Celo Foundation. In this episode we dive into Celo’s mission of using “sacred economics” to create financial prosperity via a mobile-first blockchain and technology stack. We also talk about the state of Celo’s ecosystem in Brazil and Latam - most notably the cREAL stablecoin that was launched earlier this year and has gained significant adoption and liquidity in just six months. We also spend some time focusing on the different types of Celo grants programs available for founders and builders in the region, so make sure to check these out. Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem

Conor Brady heads up Ethereum Brasil, which is supporting the Web3 community in Brazil. In this episode we discuss the upcoming ETH SP event and how he’s using it to support the builder community in Brazil and keep driving momentum after a super successful Ethereum Rio conference last March. The market conditions may be different now and prices may be down, but there’s still a ton of energy in the Brazil market that Conor is trying to convene. Head over to ethereumbrasil.com to learn more. To learn more about Conor and Ethereum Brasil you can listen to my previous interview with him here. 

Guilherme Rebane is the head of Latam and Brazil at OSL, which is one of the world’s largest digital asset platforms and liquidity providers for institutions. He spent 20 years working in traditional finance as an equities, derivatives and FX trader, and now he leads business development and operations for OSL across the Latin America region. In this episode, we discuss the rapid maturation of the Brazilian crypto market, why crypto was the predominant theme at the Expert XP conference in Sao Paulo earlier this month (one of the largest finance and investment events in the world) and how interest from institutions and professional investors in the region is growing. We also discuss Brazil Crypto Report’s new BCR Institutional vertical that will focus on creating crypto content and community relevant to the professional investor ecosystem in Brazil. Special thanks to OSL for being the launch partner of this new product 🙏 Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem 🔥 I hope to see some of you at the Blockchain Rio festival that’s happening September 1-4 in Rio de Janeiro; you can use the code BRAZILCRYPTOREPORT to get 10% off on your ticket. 🎉 Also be sure to check out the Ethereum São Paulo event which is how happening Sept 9-11. You can go to ethereumbrasil.com to learn more

Isac Costa is a computer scientist, a former regulator with the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission and a professor at Ibmec and Insper - two of Brazil's top business schools. He's also been keenly observing the development of legislation that would create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and digital assets in Brazil. This legislation was expected to pass earlier this summer but stalled amid disagreements over key provisions like reporting timeframes and asset segregation rules. TLDR is that with upcoming elections, the outlook for this bill passing this year is murky.  Isac and I go deep into the nuances of this proposed legislation. We discuss: - history and background of crypto regulation in Brazil and previous attempts to legislate this matter - core objectives of this legislation and the various stakeholders involved in influencing its direction - tensions between local exchanges, overseas exchanges and tradfi institutions moving into crypto - the rulemaking process that will commence once legislation is signed - ie the fight will shift from the legislative to the regulatory front at the Central Bank and CVM If you're closely tracking Brazil crypto legislative developments, I highly recommend following Isac on Linkedin Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem 🔥 I hope to see some of you at the Blockchain Rio festival that’s happening September 1-4 in Rio de Janeiro; you can use the code BRAZILCRYPTOREPORT to get 10% off on your ticket.  🎉 Also be sure to check out the Ethereum São Paulo event which is how happening Sept 9-11. You can go to ethereumbrasil.com to learn more

Tatiana Sampaio is chief marketing officer for the Blockchain Rio festival, which will take place in the Cidade Maravilhosa September 1-4. She gives us a sneak preview into what is being billed as Latin America's largest blockchain event. We discuss the content themes and structure, the side events and the involvement of the Rio government, local economic development agencies and the Brazilian Central Bank Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem 🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting this episode of 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! 👊

Brazilian UFC fighters Matheus Nicolau and Luana Pinheiro have taken the bold step of accepting a portion of their salary in bitcoin via a partnership with Bitwage. Matheus holds an 18-3-1 record and is currently ranked 7th worldwide in the UFC flyweight division. Luana is 10-1 in UFC competition and is ranked 18th in the women’s strawweight division. In this episode, we dive into: how the couple first became interested in bitcoin and crypto what motivated them to begin taking a portion of their salary in bitcoin why they aren’t concerned about the current market conditions and volatility (TLDR: long time preference) what type of message they are communicating to their fans and followers by embracing bitcoin the importance of high-earning athletes to invest and diversify while they still have income earning potential This is also my first-ever Portuguese language podcast interview so I hope you enjoy my gringo accent 😂 Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem 🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting this episode of 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! 👊