This piece is found in Yibada and discusses the intention of Bitso, a Mexico City-based crypto exchange founded in 2014, to utilize Circle’s platform to make cross-border transfers easier between U.S. individuals and businesses and Mexican residents. Circle is a Boston-based fintech that has a blockchain payments platform named Circle Pay.
‘It was announced that as part of the exchange’s Bitso Shift program, which aims to improve upon present cross-border payment services, Circle will offer the infrastructure to enable these transfers. Bitso Shift will make it possible for businesses and individuals in the United States to make and receive bitcoin, as well as other crypto payments… According to the official data of the World Bank, the United States is the leading trade partner of Mexico. It was noted that only in 2020, Mexico receives as much as $40 billion in remittances from the USA. This information was published by the Central Bank of Mexico.’
The piece goes on to discuss the popularity of cryptos in the U.S. and how more people have been investing in these assets as a value storage and speculative investment tool. The transactional usage is somewhat limited for things like bitcoin, given the lack of wide POS acceptance, but stablecoins have more utility. The piece also points out that the standard wire transfers are a two-day proposition, whereas the crypto exchange can be a matter pf seconds. As readers of these pieces will know, cross-border payments costs have been a subject of interest to BIS and various other sovereign players, so the growth of utility in Latin America using crypto should come as no surprise.
‘Cross-border payments and their further development are very important for many countries around the world, including Mexico. Many of the families in Mexico have their relatives living and working in the US, many of which are sending money back to their families… In most cases, such transactions are associated with a lot of fees and it is creating many problems for these people. The recent announcement of Bitso is believed to help those who have faced such issues to make payments in an easier and more efficient manner… Because of this, many believe that the decision of Bitso is very important for everyday lives of people in Mexico as well as in the US.’
Overview by Steve Murphy, Director, Commercial and Enterprise Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
