Welcome to this new episode of Archi, the language of convergence. We've been speaking with many experts, the protagonists of the transformation happening in Argentina in the fintech sector, regarding technology and digitalization. This is a video podcast from the Argentine Fintech Chamber that seeks to speak with leaders in the sector. We've been speaking with many from Argentina, but we also need to speak with global leaders, and for that, I want to introduce Daniel Vogel, CEO of Bitso. Hello Daniel, how are you?
Very well, thanks for having me here on this podcast. Surely those listening know what Bitso is, but we have to say it's the first crypto unicorn in Latin America, the second in Mexico. Really very important. But tell us a bit, for those who don't know the company.
We started Bitso in 2014, very excited about the idea that technology could fundamentally change the way people move their money, and very excited about the role money plays in people's financial freedom. So we started Bitso as a platform to buy and sell Bitcoin, but today, 11 years later, we are the largest digital assets platform in the region. We have a business for companies where we help them move money across borders with stablecoins. And we have a retail business that allows people to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, make and receive payments in the United States, invest in stocks, a whole series of different things. We have close to 10 million clients around the region and are very excited about everything that has been built not only in fintech but also in crypto in recent years. I'm very happy to be here in Argentina at this Fintech Forum, it's incredibly exciting to see all the energy in Argentina regarding fintech, and I'm happy to be here chatting with you.
Great. I'm going to ask you how you see the local sector first. I'll ask you that. Then I also want you to tell us what you can bring from Mexico, and you surely travel the world speaking about these topics. But before that, how did the use of the platform change? You said you've been around for 11 years, what was needed 11 years ago versus now, what is most in demand?
11 years ago, it was very novel to have a platform simply to buy Bitcoin. There weren't places where you could buy Bitcoin, connect your bank, or send money from your bank to buy Bitcoin. So that was the innovation. 11 years ago we were the first platform in Mexico where you could do that and one of the first in Latin America. So I would say that 11 years ago, that was the novel part. Today, the business has changed a lot. Today, we have operations in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Brazil. We are connected to all the payment systems in all these countries, and today we have the possibility not only to buy and sell Bitcoin, but much more. I think we have over 100 different assets you can buy, but we have also expanded and today you can use stablecoins to access dollars, be able to liquidate those dollars into accounts in the United States or vice versa, and also the buying and selling of stocks, yields on your dollars, so you can buy dollars and protect yourself against devaluation, but you can also invest those dollars to generate a yield. So the range of products we offer has really grown a lot, and all this because the space has become bigger, more competitive, and more exciting.
Right. And you mentioned several countries where you operate. How do you see the Argentine ecosystem compared to those other countries?
Very interesting on the fintech side. I think Argentina has always been a country where there has been a lot of innovation, on the cutting edge. I think it was one of the first countries in the region where QR payments were really very widespread. I remember coming many years ago and seeing people using Mercado Pago to pay with QR, while in Mexico everything was still very cash-based. So I think Argentina has always been a bit ahead on technology. And on the crypto side, I think the macroeconomic context of the country, which has always been very complicated in my opinion, has led consumers to always be looking for financial innovations to find a way around all the macroeconomic issues of inflation, devaluation, etc. So here we see very high adoption of stablecoins, much more than we see in Mexico, Colombia, or Brazil. And I think this is an idiosyncrasy of the country's economic reality. And I'm very excited about all the innovations we see now, not only in crypto but more broadly in fintech. Years ago we saw the opening of payment systems, these QR systems that used to be closed and are now open, and now any wallet can make a QR payment. All these things lead to more competition, more players, and ultimately the end consumer benefits. So I see Argentina in fintech technology as very dynamic and full of promise, because it's combined not only with policies that I think have been very accurate in terms of innovation, but also with a very tough economic reality that has led people to have a very high financial literacy compared to what we see in other parts of the world.
Right. Years ago we had 200% inflation, so we know everything to beat those prices. I wanted to ask you, what are you seeing in regional trends? Because those of us here in Argentina, you come from Mexico, what can we learn from what's happening in other countries?
Yes, I think one of the things we are seeing, and in Argentina again, this macroeconomic context has sometimes made some of these possibilities a bit more difficult, but one of the things we see very clearly in the rest of the region is the use of stablecoins for cross-border payments. It means if you want to pay a supplier in the United States from Mexico, a supplier in China from Brazil, we see the use of stablecoins, more for companies, yes, that has grown a lot.
Interestingly, we don't see that so clearly in Argentina yet.
It's true, we don't see as many companies. I think all these restrictions that existed with the exchange rate, with the currency, perhaps made the compliance issue a bit... I don't know if it created a bit of fear, distrust, I don't know what to call it.
Maybe you just couldn't do it directly.
Exactly, etc. But that's a trend we see very clearly in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, other parts of the world, and we're starting to see it in Argentina, but not at the same scale. And what we see is that these other jurisdictions are benefiting from faster, less costly transfers with much less friction than those that currently happen with the traditional financial world, using correspondent banking and SWIFT systems which are normally slower and with more friction than what can be done today with stablecoins.
Right. Families also take advantage of this, I mean, to send to a family member in another country.
Yes, Mexico is... the remittance corridor from the United States to Mexico is the largest in the world. There are about 65 billion dollars annually flowing from the United States to Mexico. These are family members who go to work in the United States and send money to their families in Mexico. And today, a very high percentage is via stablecoins. But again, we don't see that as much in Argentina yet. We are seeing it in Argentina a lot with freelancers, people who work for foreign companies and receive payments in stablecoins. So in that segment we are seeing it, but much less in the corporate part and much less in remittances.
