Layer One: LATAM’s consumer stablecoin revolution is driving trillion-dollar transaction volume

Layer One•June 4, 2026, 3:53AM EDT
Make us preferred on Google
Layer One: LATAM’s consumer stablecoin revolution is driving trillion-dollar transaction volume
Partner offers

We'd love your feedback.

Advertisement

Welcome to Layer One: the newsletter and podcast on the intersection of crypto and the real world. Hosted by The Block's Kelvin Sparks and John Wu, President of Ava Labs, Layer One brings you inside the institutional conversations driving blockchain forward.

Last time on the podcast, we were joined by Samantha Lewis, Partner at Mercury Fund, and David Sutter, CEO at OpenTrade, to discuss crypto's DIY roots, venture capital strategies, and how U.S. regulation is paving the way for stablecoin adoption to surge.

In this week's newsletter, we're taking a look at how strong demand for U.S. dollars is driving a stablecoin revolution across Latin America.

LATAM’s consumer stablecoin revolution is driving trillion-dollar transaction volume

Everyday adoption is driving a surge in stablecoin growth across Latin America. According to data from Chainalysis, almost $1.5 trillion of crypto transaction volume was logged across the region from July 2022 to June 2025, with a sizable portion of this attributed to stablecoins.

The shortcomings of local legacy financial systems are providing clear, pragmatic use cases for permissionless digital dollars. However, adoption isn’t uniform across the region.

As one of the more stable, developed economies in the region, Brazil's crypto markets are likewise among the most mature. The country ranks fifth on Chainalysis' global adoption rankings, dominating regional crypto volume with almost $320 billion value received over the year leading into June 2025 (nearly 33% of the regional total). Brazilian central bank chief Gabriel Galipolo previously told Reuters that over 90% of this volume came from stablecoin transactions.

One country that’s lagging far behind, perhaps surprisingly so, is El Salvador. Most will remember how the country's crypto-friendly president, Nayib Bukele, made history in 2021 by declaring bitcoin legal tender. This prompted sweeping reforms, mandating that local businesses accept bitcoin payments, though this later became voluntary. Meanwhile, the government itself started buying up BTC for a strategic reserve — El Salvador is still the fifth-ranked nation state by total bitcoin holdings, with over 7,600 coins.

Yet all this momentum sharply reversed in February 2025. The country's long-brewing economic woes boiled over, leading to an IMF bailout that curtailed Bukele's crypto ambitions. El Salvador's crypto-driven renaissance has since been widely labelled a non-starter.

What the regional trends across Latin America prove is that adoption is most resilient when it's driven by strong demand, rather than an aggressive top-down restructuring.

What OpenTrade has done is to say, anyone anywhere who uses one of their customers — like a neobank in Latin America, for example — it's one click of a button, and automatically you're getting to save in U.S. dollars. That's revolutionary.
– Samantha Lewis
 

Venezuela is a prime case study in this regard. The South American nation has been the target of U.S. sanctions for several decades — tensions between the two countries culminated with the capture of Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, in January this year. As a result of this instability, the country's inflation rate currently sits at over 600% year over year, according to figures published in April. Ordinary citizens have increasingly turned to Tether (USDT) as a crucial lifeline to preserve the value of their savings.

A currency crisis in Argentina likewise drove inflation rates to a peak of over 200% in April 2024. Unsurprisingly, both countries hold top-20 spots in the global adoption rankings, driven by stablecoins' growing utility as an accessible safe-harbour asset.

Last time on the podcast, Sutter shared how his firm integrates with fintech platforms across Latin America to offer additional plug-and-play yield products for these users. This means they can not only hold stablecoins as a store of value, but also earn yield while they do so.

The utility of USD-denominated digital savings is expanding, turning them from a lifeline into a viable alternative banking system. That's why Standard Chartered last year estimated that up to $1 trillion of bank deposits across global emerging markets will flow into stablecoins by 2028.

Podcast Recap: OpenTrade and Mercury Fund on How Stablecoins Are Creating a New Financial System

Last week, we were joined by Samantha Lewis, Partner at Mercury Fund, and David Sutter, CEO at OpenTrade, to discuss the founder's journey in crypto, the rapid rise of stablecoins, and how yield-as-a-service platforms are carving out a profitable niche as everyday adoption grows.

Subscribe to Layer One on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the Headlines: The stories driving the conversation this week

  • Mastercard is expanding its stablecoin payments functionality, allowing issuers to settle transactions outside of traditional banking hours. Following the upgrade, several major fintech platforms across LATAM and the U.S. are expected to roll out integrations, including Mexico’s ARQ. Mastercard announced they will support settlements in USDC, PYUSD, and four other stablecoins. 
  • Spanish gambling regulators have announced a nationwide block on prediction markets. Both Kalshi and Polymarket, the two most popular platforms of their kind, will be inaccessible for an estimated four months while the result of a disciplinary action against the firms is pending. Several countries have already moved to suspend prediction market platforms this year: Argentina announced its own ban in March, with Brazil following a month later.
  • Investigators in Argentina recently uncovered calls between President Javier Milei and a key player in the LIBRA scandal. Milei is currently a person of interest in a federal probe, after promoting the token — which rocketed in value before crashing dramatically, losing investors an estimated $250 million — on his social media accounts in February 2025. He has previously denied having any connection with the project or its founders.

Top of the Charts: Eight LATAM countries topped $10 billion value received in the year leading up to June 2025

Keep up with the latest in tokenization, DeFi, and institutional adoption by subscribing to Layer One's weekly market insights.

Layer One is brought to you in collaboration with Avalanche.


Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.