2021 was a seminal year for cryptocurrency adoption along with other modes in Latin America. Every country and dependency have adopted crypto and some even have their own version of crypto. Several conferences, regulations and projects related to NFT made 2021 an interesting and fruitful one for Latin America.
2021 Highlights in Latin America
· Colombia’s Financial Superintendency okayed multiple partnerships between banks in the financial system and crypto exchanges. These include 9 partnerships with outfits like Binance and others.
· El Salvador recognized BTC as legal tender. This is the first adoption in the world and has created waves all over the globe. Introduced by the President, Nayib Bukele, Bitcoin Law was voted in by the majority and was effective as of September 2021.
· The Central Bank of Cuba will adopt laws to recognize crypto like Bitcoin and Ethereum for commercial payments and as investment vehicles.
· Peru’s President of the country’s Central Reserve Bank issued a statement saying that Peru would join central banks of countries like India, Singapore, and Hong Kong to develop its own CBDC.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in long lockdowns across the world which accelerated strategy re-evaluation by blockchain companies. Conferences organized by these organizations in the digital space saw good attendance by other companies and governments. Of these the Latam Blockchain Summit in 2021 is the most important. Over 100 speakers played a key role in the 5th edition of the summit. Topics covered included blockchain infrastructure, available applications, DeFi and relevance to the regular financial system. Other events in 2021 propelled the adoption of crypto across Latin America. Many more changes related to crypto are expected in the coming years.
