Bits and Borders

Arnold Lee is the co-founder and CEO of Sphere Labs, which is one of the most exciting stablecoin infrastructure plays at the moment. We talk about how Sphere has found product market fit for cross-border stablecoin payments in emerging markets, with billions of dollars being transacted annually on its rails.

You can connect with Arnold on Linkedin

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Binance is the largest platform for trading of digital assets. With over 250 million users around the world, the exchange offers over 350 trading pairs, best-in-class products and services for investors, and advanced tools for institutions players.

Binance currently holds over US$ 160 billion in user assets under custody and reached a cumulative historical trading volume of $100 trillion in 2024, showcasing the trust placed in it by users worldwide.

With user-focus at the core of its DNA, Binance continuously invests to increase usability, bring new features and deepen security.

Liquidity matters. Security is non-negotiable.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join Binance Now⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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🚀 Sign up for the 🇧🇷⁠⁠⁠⁠Brazil Crypto Report⁠⁠⁠⁠ newsletter for analysis, interviews and market intelligences

Today's episode is a crossover with João Pedro Malar, host of Exame's Future of Money podcast - which is one of the leading crypto podcasts in Brazil

In this Portuguese language discussion, João and I discuss my perspectives on the Brazil and Latam crypto market having covered it for three years via my Brazil Crypto Report newsletter and podcast.

You can find the Future of Money version of this episode here

You can connect with Joao on Linkedin

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Binance is the largest platform for trading of digital assets. With over 250 million users around the world, the exchange offers over 350 trading pairs, best-in-class products and services for investors, and advanced tools for institutions players.

Binance currently holds over US$ 160 billion in user assets under custody and reached a cumulative historical trading volume of $100 trillion in 2024, showcasing the trust placed in it by users worldwide.

With user-focus at the core of its DNA, Binance continuously invests to increase usability, bring new features and deepen security.

Liquidity matters. Security is non-negotiable.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join Binance Now⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

----------------------------------------------------------------

🚀 Sign up for the 🇧🇷⁠⁠⁠Brazil Crypto Report⁠⁠⁠ newsletter for analysis, interviews and market intelligences

Andre Portilho is Head of Digital Assets at BTG Pactual, Latin America's largest investment bank. He joins host Aaron Stanley to dissect crypto's wild 2025 ride, from bitcoin's both Trump-slowdown to Ethereum's identity crisis to Solana's memecoin stress test.

While crypto markets recalibrate after Trump-era euphoria, Portilho reveals why Brazil is a global leader when it comes to integrating crypto and the Tradfi banking sector.

You can connect with Andre on Linkedin

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Binance is the largest platform for trading of digital assets. With over 250 million users around the world, the exchange offers over 350 trading pairs, best-in-class products and services for investors, and advanced tools for institutions players.

Binance currently holds over US$ 160 billion in user assets under custody and reached a cumulative historical trading volume of $100 trillion in 2024, showcasing the trust placed in it by users worldwide.

With user-focus at the core of its DNA, Binance continuously invests to increase usability, bring new features and deepen security.

Liquidity matters. Security is non-negotiable.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join Binance Now⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

----------------------------------------------------------------

🚀 Sign up for the 🇧🇷⁠⁠Brazil Crypto Report⁠⁠ newsletter for analysis, interviews and market intelligence

Paula Pascual is CEO and founder of Merge Madrid and Merge Buenos Aires and a former banker at Santander. She joins host Aaron Stanley to share her vision for uniting Europe and Latin America through Web3 events and media.

The Merge Buenos Aires conference will take place March 25-26 in the Argentine capital at a time when crypto adoption is escalating in the region. By bringing regulators, traditional finance, and local crypto communities together, Merge BA will facilitate these important cross-continental dialogues on the industry's most pressing questions.

Brazil Crypto Report is excited to support Merge as a media partner! You can learn more on their site You can connect with Paula on Linkedin

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Binance is the largest platform for trading of digital assets. With over 250 million users around the world, the exchange offers over 350 trading pairs, best-in-class products and services for investors, and advanced tools for institutions players.

Binance currently holds over US$ 160 billion in user assets under custody and reached a cumulative historical trading volume of $100 trillion in 2024, showcasing the trust placed in it by users worldwide.

With user-focus at the core of its DNA, Binance continuously invests to increase usability, bring new features and deepen security.

Liquidity matters. Security is non-negotiable.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join Binance Now⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

----------------------------------------------------------------

🚀 Sign up for the 🇧🇷⁠Brazil Crypto Report⁠ newsletter for analysis, interviews and market intelligence

Phase 1 of Brazil's ambitious Drex CBDC pilot is in the books. The project has proven successful thus far, but privacy and scalability challenges remain - prompting the Central Bank to conclude that a "major adaptation" is required for Drex to become a core piece of Brazil's financial infrastructure.

In this episode, Marcos Viriato of Parfin, Leandro Pereira of Nuclea, Ricardo Paixão of CRIA (and the Brazilian Congress), join host Aaron Stanley to explore the findings of an extensive new report published by the bank to conclude Phase 1.

They provide an insider perspective on the road ahead for Drex as Brazil continues its push towards a tokenized financial system.

00:03 - Introduction and market expectations

03:06 - DREX project explanation and objectives

05:36 - Analysis of the Central Bank's technical report

09:26 - The privacy challenge explained

13:56 - The Drex Trilemma

17:25 - Scalability considerations

22:24 - Discussion of Hyperledger Besu infrastructure

27:47 - Sponsor break

29:20 - Second phase pilot and resource constraints

36:14 - Current use cases and integration challenges

48:00 - Market outlook and tokenization beyond DREX

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Binance is the largest platform for trading of digital assets. With over 250 million users around the world, the exchange offers over 350 trading pairs, best-in-class products and services for investors, and advanced tools for institutions players.

Binance currently holds over US$ 160 billion in user assets under custody and reached a cumulative historical trading volume of $100 trillion in 2024, showcasing the trust placed in it by users worldwide.

With user-focus at the core of its DNA, Binance continuously invests to increase usability, bring new features and deepen security.

Liquidity matters. Security is non-negotiable.⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join Binance Now⁠⁠⁠⁠

----------------------------------------------------------------

🚀 Sign up for the 🇧🇷Brazil Crypto Report newsletter for analysis, interviews and market intelligence

Rachel Conlan is Global Chief Marketing Officer at Binance. She joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss the crypto's exchange's ambitions to reach one billion users worldwide.

Rachel reveals how Latin America has become Binance's fastest-growing region, with 63% user growth last year, well outpacing their global average. She also explains how Brazil and Latam have become a testing ground for new crypto products like Copy Trading, Launchpool and Earn.

You can connect with Rachel on X/Twitter and Linkedin

00:00 - Introduction

01:24 - Rachel's journey to Binance and crypto industry experience

03:23 - Comparing crypto marketing to traditional advertising and entertainment

06:33 - Binance's evolution and growth to 250 million users

09:46 - Maintaining community focus during company transition

13:23 - Binance's trust relationship with users and leadership change

16:47 - Value-driven culture enabling seamless transitions

20:46 - The Binance Angels ambassador program

24:16 - Regional marketing strategies

27:10 - Adapting global partnerships to local markets

29:36 - Channel strategies across different markets

32:22 - Latin America's crypto adoption and unique characteristics

35:38 - Latin America as a beta test for global crypto use cases

36:58 - The changing perception of crypto

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Binance is the largest platform for trading of digital assets. With over 250 million users around the world, the exchange offers over 350 trading pairs, best-in-class products and services for investors, and advanced tools for institutions players.

Binance currently holds over US$ 160 billion in user assets under custody and reached a cumulative historical trading volume of $100 trillion in 2024, showcasing the trust placed in it by users worldwide.

With user-focus at the core of its DNA, Binance continuously invests to increase usability, bring new features and deepen security.

Liquidity matters. Security is non-negotiable.⁠⁠⁠ Join Binance Now⁠⁠⁠

------------------------------------------------------------------

Powered by hydroelectric energy from the ITAIPU Dam, Morphware provides high-performance compute to run, train, and build your AI apps and agents.

One of the greatest expenses when it comes to building AI applications is the compute. Morphware provides a gateway to accessible compute for AI development.

Using abundant clean energy from Paraguay, NVIDIA’s highest performing GPU servers and bitcoin mining infrastructure, Morphware offers some of the most competitive prices for compute in the industry.

Follow on X @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Morphwareai⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and join the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to be a part of the community

----------------------------------------------------------------

🚀 Sign up for the 🇧🇷Brazil Crypto Report newsletter for analysis, interviews and market intelligence

Jean Hansen and and Victor Cioffi are core team members of Ipê City, which is a month-long Pop-Up city experiment coming to Florianopolis from April 22 - May 22.

We discuss their vision for bringing together 150-200 techno-optimists, builders, and innovators in Brazil's Silicon Valley to prototype solutions to real world problems facing Brazil and Latin America.

Ipê City is modeled after the "network state" concepts pioneered by Balaji Srinivasan and others and will explore solutions in the realms of finance, governance, healthcare, education.

00:03 - Introduction and overview of pop-up cities in crypto01:36 - Background prior involvement with Network States05:36 - The vision and cultural goals of Ipe City08:36 - Understanding network states vs pop-up cities11:46 - The evolution from Zuzalu to current pop-up cities14:59 - Unique aspects of pop-up cities vs conferences18:37 - Ipe City's specific objectives and structure22:43 - Weekly cycles and program structure25:22 - Target participants and sandbox approach31:09 - Partnerships and future vision34:21 - Closing thoughts and how to get involved

You can connect with Jean and Victor on X/Twitter and Linkedin. To learn more go to Ipê City or https://docs.ipe.city/. You can also join the Telegram group

To learn more about Jean's previous work in the Prospera community, have a look at the first edition in his Network States documentary series

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Binance is the largest platform for trading of digital assets. With over 250 million users around the world, the exchange offers over 350 trading pairs, best-in-class products and services for investors, and advanced tools for institutions players.

Binance currently holds over US$ 160 billion in user assets under custody and reached a cumulative historical trading volume of $100 trillion in 2024, showcasing the trust placed in it by users worldwide.

With user-focus at the core of its DNA, Binance continuously invests to increase usability, bring new features and deepen security.

Liquidity matters. Security is non-negotiable.⁠⁠ Join Binance Now⁠⁠

------------------------------------------------------------------

Powered by hydroelectric energy from the ITAIPU Dam, Morphware provides high-performance compute to run, train, and build your AI apps and agents.

One of the greatest expenses when it comes to building AI applications is the compute. Morphware provides a gateway to accessible compute for AI development.

Using abundant clean energy from Paraguay, NVIDIA’s highest performing GPU servers and bitcoin mining infrastructure, Morphware offers some of the most competitive prices for compute in the industry.

Follow on X @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Morphwareai⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and join the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to be a part of the community

----------------------------------------------------------------

🚀 Sign up for the 🇧🇷Brazil Crypto Report newsletter for analysis, interviews and market intelligence

Danielle Teixeira is a program manager at Fenasbac, which is linked to the Central Bank of Brazil and runs several startup acceleration programs critical to promoting financial innovation in Brazil.

She joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss Fenasbac'scurrent NEXT Accelerator program, which features prominent sponsors including Banco do Brasil, Ripple, and Mercado Bitcoin, focusing on challenges ranging from blockchain implementation to tokenization of real-world assets.

For fintech companies and entrepreneurs interested in entering the Brazilian market, FENASBAC's programs offer a structured pathway to engage with regulators and established financial institutions.

00:00 Introduction

01:59 History and evolution of FENASBAC04:32 FENASBAC's role as intermediary between Central Bank and industry06:50 Overview of innovation programs and ecosystem building08:16 Details on the NEXT Accelerator program10:20 How corporate sponsors and startups are matched13:23 Program structure and networking opportunities15:00 Current sponsors including Banco do Brazil, Ripple, and Mercado Bitcoin16:32 Ripple and Mercado Bitcoin's specific challenges21:23 Success stories from previous cohorts24:41 International expansion plans26:47 What makes FENASBAC's accelerator unique30:08 Overview of LIFT ecosystem programs34:00 Impact of LIFT Challenge on Brazil's CBDC development36:01 How these programs have influenced Brazil's financial system39:33 Preview of upcoming CVM (securities regulator) project41:26 How to get involved in FENASBAC's programs

You can connect with Danielle onLinkedin

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Binance is the largest platform for trading of digital assets. With over 250 million users around the world, the exchange offers over 350 trading pairs, best-in-class products and services for investors, and advanced tools for institutions players.

Binance currently holds over US$ 160 billion in user assets under custody and reached a cumulative historical trading volume of $100 trillion in 2024, showcasing the trust placed in it by users worldwide.

With user-focus at the core of its DNA, Binance continuously invests to increase usability, bring new features and deepen security.

Liquidity matters. Security is non-negotiable.⁠ Join Binance Now⁠

------------------------------------------------------------------

Powered by hydroelectric energy from the ITAIPU Dam, Morphware provides high-performance compute to run, train, and build your AI apps and agents.

One of the greatest expenses when it comes to building AI applications is the compute. Morphware provides a gateway to accessible compute for AI development.

Using abundant clean energy from Paraguay, NVIDIA’s highest performing GPU servers and bitcoin mining infrastructure, Morphware offers some of the most competitive prices for compute in the industry.

Follow on X @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Morphwareai⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and join the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to be a part of the community

----------------------------------------------------------------

🚀 Sign up for the 🇧🇷Brazil Crypto Report newsletter for analysis, interviews and market intelligence

This episode is the soft-launch of a special mini-series calledBits & Borders that will take us ona country-by-country tour exploring crypto adoption across Latin America. Each episode will spotlight a different country and map out the various adoption trends, entrepreneurial energy and regulatory environment in that specific nation.

🔥The first stop on our tour is: Guyana!

As Guyana emerges as one of the world's fastest-growing economies thanks to major oil discoveries, the conversation around digital asset adoption becomes increasingly relevant.Tony Edward, host of the popularThinking Crypto Podcast, shares his unique perspective as a Guyanese native on the intersection of traditional finance, crypto, and economic development.

You can connect with Tony on Linkedin and X/Twitter

https://x.com/ThinkingCrypto1

https://www.linkedin.com/in/seosocialmarketing/

00:31 - Introduction to Latin America crypto series01:06 - Tony's background and initial discussion02:51 - Early life in Guyana and economic challenges06:38 - Discussion of Guyana's oil development09:57 - Impact of oil wealth on Guyanese society12:41 - Tony's journey into crypto20:11 - Sponsored segment22:32 - Discussion of crypto accessibility in Guyana26:31 - Looking ahead to 202534:04 - Macro perspective on crypto adoption

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Binance is the largest platform for trading of digital assets. With over 250 million users around the world, the exchange offers over 350 trading pairs, best-in-class products and services for investors, and advanced tools for institutions players.

Binance currently holds over US$ 160 billion in user assets under custody and reached a cumulative historical trading volume of $100 trillion in 2024, showcasing the trust placed in it by users worldwide.

With user-focus at the core of its DNA, Binance continuously invests to increase usability, bring new features and deepen security.

Liquidity matters. Security is non-negotiable. Join Binance Now

------------------------------------------------------------------

Powered by hydroelectric energy from the ITAIPU Dam, Morphware provides high-performance compute to run, train, and build your AI apps and agents.

One of the greatest expenses when it comes to building AI applications is the compute. Morphware provides a gateway to accessible compute for AI development.

Using abundant clean energy from Paraguay, NVIDIA’s highest performing GPU servers and bitcoin mining infrastructure, Morphware offers some of the most competitive prices for compute in the industry.

Follow on X @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Morphwareai⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and join the⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to be a part of the community

----------------------------------------------------------------

🚀 Sign up for the 🇧🇷Brazil Crypto Report newsletter for analysis, interviews and market intelligence

This episode is a panel discussion hosted at Brazil House during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The panel was hosted by BCR founder Aaron Stanley and featured Andre Portilho, head of digital assets at BTG Pactual; Caroline Malcolm of Oxford University; Dante Disparte, chief strategy officer at Circle and Alan Cohn, partner at Steptoe, LLC in Washington, DC

We discuss institutional adoption of digital assets in the country, stablecoin adoption and regulations, Drex, and then these trends into what we're seeing happening in Europe, the United States and elsewhere

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Powered by hydroelectric energy from the ITAIPU Dam, Morphware provides high-performance compute to run, train, and build your AI apps and agents.

One of the greatest expenses when it comes to building AI applications is the compute. Morphware provides a gateway to accessible compute for AI development.

Using abundant clean energy from Paraguay, NVIDIA’s highest performing GPU servers and bitcoin mining infrastructure, Morphware offers some of the most competitive prices for compute in the industry.

Follow on X @⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Morphwareai⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and join the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Telegram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to be a part of the community

----------------------------------------------------------------

🚀 Sign up for the 🇧🇷Brazil Crypto Report newsletter for analysis, interviews and market intelligence