Bitso Expects to Capture 10% of Remittances Between US and Mexico

Bitso Expects to Capture 10% of Remittances Between US and Mexico

  • The cryptocurrency trading platform announced the launch of a debit card with Mastercard.
  • Crypto platform CEO Daniel Vogel revealed that there are two cryptocurrencies whose use is rapidly growing in cross-border trading: XRP and stablecoins.
  • For now, Bitso processes 5% of all remittances sent by Mexicans residing abroad to their country.

Bitso, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Latin America, expects to close the year in Mexico with a volume of remittances from the United States that ranges between 8% and 10%, reported the CEO and co-founder of the company, Daniel Vogel.

Currently, the Mexican unicorn processes around 5% of the total cryptocurrencies that circulate between the two countries, including the stablecoins whose use has been growing this year along with the rest of the cryptocurrencies.

To complement the remittance business, the platform with five million users and a presence in Mexico, the United States, Brazil, Colombia, and Argentina, will soon launch a new card in association with Mastercard.

"Many people identify with this use case, because many people depend on the money that their relatives send them from the United States," Vogel explained at a press conference reviewed by local media.

He highlighted that remittances come in a mix of cryptocurrencies, but there are two in particular that have grown a lot lately. This is the case with Ripple’s XRP and the stablecoins that Mexicans outside the country are beginning to use a lot to send remittances.

In early August, the company announced an operating partnership with Everest, the licensed cryptocurrency custody platform that offers stablecoins. Thus, Mexican clients of the latter will be able to receive cross-border transactions in pesos from the United States, Europe, and Singapore.

On the Flipside

  • In the first quarter of the year, Mexico received a total of 12.5 billion dollars in remittances, according to official figures. In May, money transfers hit a record $5.17 billion.
  • Crypto exchanges are aggressively vying for the Mexican remittance market, one of the largest in the world.

Card Launch with Mastercard

To facilitate the payments and use of funds by its clients, Bitso also signed an agreement with the multinational financial services company Mastercard for the issuance of a debit card. The card allows users to buy in stores in the country or abroad using the Mexican pesos available in the Bitso wallet.

Vogel pointed out that in his company they were very excited to celebrate this alliance with the important global payment player because it has a strategy around the cryptocurrency sector that for them was “very exciting.”

The director of Bitso-Mexico, Bárbara González Briseño, said that many platform users are eager to acquire the card. She further said that people are choosing cryptocurrencies to send their remittances due to the immediacy of the transfer and the ease and security of the operation.

Why You Should Care

  • Bitso expects to process some $4 billion in remittances around the world next year.
  • During the first half of the year alone, it processed $1 billion, matching the payment volume of all of 2021.

For more information on trading in Mexican remittances, see the following articles:

Western Union and MercadoLibre to Send Digital Remittances to Mexico

Ripple’s New Deal Opens XRP Transfers Between EU and Mexico

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