Welcome to our Tech Roundup, where we bring you the biggest stories in technology and innovation in Brazil and Latin America. This week: Brazil’s crypto market surge as stablecoins dominate
Brazil’s booming crypto market in 2024
Brazilians traded over BRL 247.8 billion (USD 43 billion) in crypto assets from January to September 2024 — 24 percent more than in the same period last year, according to the amount declared to the Federal Revenue Service.
The data. The reported figures include transactions by Brazil-based crypto exchanges, which must declare all trades to the Federal Revenue Service, and transactions on foreign platforms exceeding a BRL 30,000 monthly threshold. The actual trading volume is likely even higher.
Bitcoin love. The Federal Revenue Service started collecting data in 2019. Since that year, monthly volume traded by Brazilians peaked in March 2024 at BRL 35.9 billion. That was the month Bitcoin reached record highs.
Top assets. Surprisingly, Bitcoin (BTC) wasn’t the most traded crypto asset in Brazil in declared transactions this year. Tether (USDT), the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, led the way with BRL 153.7…