Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of the most relevant crypto and economic news from Latin America over the past week. In this week’s edition, a Brazilian lawmaker introduces a bill to allow funds to purchase crypto, Tether details its Salvadoran skyscraper move, and crypto remittance volumes remain marginal in El Salvador.
Latam Insights: Brazil to Empower Funds to Buy Crypto, Tether Talks Salvadoran Skyscraper
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Brazilian Lawmaker Proposes Bill to Allow Investment Funds to Buy Crypto
Brazilian investment funds may soon gain regulatory approval to buy cryptocurrencies, thanks to a new draft bill introduced by São Paulo MP Adriana Ventura.
The bill, published on the Brazilian parliament’s website, aims to meet growing demand from investment funds interested in crypto while ensuring a regulated and safe environment. Ventura argues that this move would allow funds to diversify their portfolios and strengthen Brazil’s position in the rapidly growing Latin American crypto market.
Letting investment funds include cryptocurrencies in their portfolios would align Brazil with the global trend of adopting these digital assets. It would recognize their importance as a legitimate asset class and it would reinforce the competitiveness of the domestic market.
Currently, Brazilian institutional investors are restricted from direct crypto investments, despite the country having one of the largest retail crypto markets in Latin America. The proposed legislation would permit funds registered in Brazil to acquire crypto from licensed firms operating within the country.
Tether Discusses 70-Story Skyscraper Construction in El Salvador: ‘It Is the Country of the Future’
Tether, the company behind USDT, a stablecoin worth close to $140 billion, has offered more details about the construction of its headquarters skyscraper, called Tether Tower, and its future in El Salvador.
Paolo Ardoino, CEO of the company, clarified that the building, which will be up to 70 stories high, will be a testament to the company’s faith in President Bukele’s commitment to the crypto industry.
“I think it is important to invest in infrastructure here. The tower will be a symbol of prosperity and growth of the country,” Ardoino told the local press. He reinforced that Tether is not going to put its logo on just any building.
Crypto Remittances Fail to Gain Momentum in El Salvador
Crypto remittances, one of the main use cases for promoting bitcoin worldwide, have failed to gain steam in the country amidst a dollarized population that mainly uses traditional methods for these operations.
John Paul Koning, a financial writer, highlighted this via social media, revealing that the usage of crypto for making remittances to El Salvador has regressed since the country declared bitcoin legal tender in 2021.
The earliest numbers show that, due to the explosion of bitcoin usage at that time, crypto remittances reached nearly 5% of the influx of money sent to Salvadoreans in October 2021. However, these numbers have been declining ever since, accounting for less than 1% of these operations for December 2024. This shows bitcoin has failed to reach a critical mass to dethrone the traditional remittance services, that remain the more popular choice.
The Salvadoran government advertised the idea of crypto remittances as one of the central pillars of the national bitcoin push. President Nayib Bukele stated that it would benefit Salvadorans, preventing them from paying million in fees to middlemen.
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