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Ola pessoal!

If you want to understand where the blockchain talent market is heading, talk to a recruiter. They’re always six months ahead of the news cycle.

Owen Healy of Owen Healy Blockchain Talent proves the rule.

The Ireland-based blockchain headhunter has spent five years placing developers, BD professionals, DevRels, and marketers at some of the most promising projects in the space.

With 50,000 LinkedIn followers and a track record of successfully placing Brazilian talent at global crypto firms, Owen brings a ground-level perspective on where the industry is hiring, who it’s hiring, and why Brazil keeps coming up as one of the most exciting talent pools in the world.

BCR is excited to be a media partner for Merge Sao Paulo next week. Shoot me a note if you’re going to be around want to catch up!

Key takeaways from the episode:

* The blockchain job market is growing up. The early days of hiring only developers and BD folks are over. Product managers, legal professionals, and candidates with traditional finance backgrounds are now in high demand as crypto projects move from experimentation into operational maturity.

* TradFi talent is finally making the jump. Wall Street professionals who were curious about crypto but reluctant to give up salary and benefits are finding it easier to transition now — as more institutional-grade firms enter the space and offer risk profiles that actually suit them.

* Brazilian talent punches above its weight. Owen consistently highlights Brazilian candidates for their strong engineering skills, clear communication, honesty about their experience, and competitive rates relative to North American counterparts - all while working in compatible time zones.

* Remote work is getting harder to secure. Time zones matter more than they did in 2021, and hybrid models are increasingly common. The candidates who remain location-independent are those whose skills are rare enough that companies will bend the rules to hire them.

* Job boards alone won’t cut it. Owen’s advice for job seekers: go “multi-chain.” Apply through official channels, but also build genuine relationships inside target companies, get internal advocates, and come to interviews prepared with competitive intelligence.

* Referrals still rule. In a small industry where everyone is a second-degree connection from everyone else, a warm introduction remains the single most powerful job search tool.

Have a great week everyone,

-AWS

Brazil Crypto Report is presented by

Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.

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Ola pessoal!

Rodrigo Trindade is an investor with Iporanga Ventures. He joins the show to discuss his groundbreaking research on local stablecoin adoption across Brazil and Latin America.

As both a venture investor and consultant in the region’s crypto ecosystem, Rodrigo identified a critical gap in the market: comprehensive, reliable data tracking the growth and usage of regional stablecoins.

He developed a tracking dashboard that monitors on-chain data for Latin American stablecoins on a weekly basis, capturing supply metrics, holder counts, active addresses, transaction volumes, and DeFi activity including TVL for local stablecoin pairs. This infrastructure now serves as the primary source of market intelligence for investors and builders operating in the space.

Our conversation explores why local currency stablecoins represent essential infrastructure for the region’s emerging on-chain financial system. While USD-denominated stablecoins will likely maintain global dominance, Rodrigo argues that functional on-chain economies in Latin America require native currency rails. Users need to transact, borrow, and generate yield in their local currencies—not just convert everything to dollars.

Key Takeaways:

* Transparency gaps remain critical: The industry needs to move beyond monthly reserve attestations toward real-time proof of reserves. Rodrigo highlights partnerships like the one between Crown and Fact Finance as important steps toward better transparency standards.

* Liquidity infrastructure is developing: While multiple liquidity providers and aggregators have emerged across Latin America, the market hasn’t reached maturity yet. Deeper liquidity pools remain necessary for sustainable growth.

* Credit and yield are the next frontiers: Looking ahead to 2026-2027, Rodrigo identifies tokenized credit and on-chain yield products as the hottest opportunities. These building blocks will enable Latin American users to access the full spectrum of financial services on-chain.

* Retail payments need refinement: While B2B crypto payment solutions have made progress, creating seamless consumer experiences for cross-border transactions and everyday payments remains an unsolved challenge.

Rodrigo’s research provides rare visibility into a rapidly evolving market. For investors, builders, and institutions exploring opportunities in Latin American crypto infrastructure, his dashboard and insights offer invaluable data-driven perspective on where the ecosystem stands and where it’s headed.

You can connect with Rodrigo on Linkedin and X/Twitter.

Have a great week everyone,

-AWS

Brazil Crypto Report is presented by

Avenia is the programmable financial infrastructure for Latin America. Connect to local payment rails like PIX, SPEI and CBU — using stablecoins as settlement — and unlock real-time, cross-border payments without banks, FX desks, or SWIFT.

Whether you’re building a wallet, a crypto card, or a global treasury solution, Avenia gives you the APIs and compliance-ready infrastructure to scale in LatAm. Move money between BRL, USD, MXN and more — fast, transparent, and fully on-chain.

https://avenia.io/

Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.

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Ola pessoal!

Today’s episode is with John Delaney, co-founder and CEO of Crown - which has quickly become a major player in a Brazilian stablecoin market that is entering a new phase of maturity.

John shares how Crown is solving what he identifies as the most acute problem in Brazil’s digital asset ecosystem: enabling institutional players to capture yield in a high interest rate environment.

The Numbers Speak for Themselves

Crown has achieved remarkable traction since launching BRLV, which is now the largest emerging market stablecoin with over 360 million BRL in circulation. The company recently closed a $13 million Series A round led by Paradigm.

But what makes Crown’s approach distinctive isn’t just the capital raised or volumes achieved - it’s the architectural decisions that underpin the product.

Why Brazil? Why Now?

Delaney, a former Cleary Gottlieb lawyer who worked on structured finance deals including Nubank’s early credit card funding, brings deep expertise across American and Brazilian financial markets to the project.

His thesis centers on three key attributes that make Brazil an ideal stablecoin market:

* A trillion-dollar-plus M2 money supply

* A crypto-friendly regulatory environment fostered by the Central Bank

* Positive real interest rates that significantly outpace inflation

The Yield Generation Advantage

Unlike traditional stablecoin models where issuers retain all interest income generated by reserve assets, BRLV shares yield with institutional partners at what Delaney describes as “a very deep architectural level.”

This design choice directly addresses the opportunity cost institutional players face when holding stablecoins in high-yield environments, a problem that doesn’t exist to the same degree in low-rate markets like the US or Europe.

Security First

Beyond yield generation, Crown has implemented what may be the most robust security structure in the stablecoin industry globally. BRLV features a bankruptcy-remote reserve holding combined with perfected legal guarantees, ensuring that token holders maintain claims on underlying assets even if Crown itself fails.

This represents the first implementation of security protections outlined in frameworks like the Genius Act.

An Ambitious Vision

Delaney’s long-term target: one trillion BRL in circulation within ten years, representing high single-digit percentage of Brazil’s M2 money supply. He views the stablecoin market as winner-take-all, or at minimum winner-take-most, drawing parallels to the USDT/USDC duopoly.

As Brazil’s stablecoin market enters a new phase of maturity, Crown’s rapid ascent offers important lessons for how institutional-grade infrastructure is being built in emerging markets.

You can connect with John on Linkedin.

Key Takeaways:

✓ Native yield architecture – BRLV enables institutional holders to capture yield from Brazil’s high interest rate environment

✓ Bankruptcy-remote structure – First global implementation of perfected legal guarantees protecting stablecoin holders

✓ Market opportunity – Brazil’s trillion-dollar M2 money supply and positive real rates create optimal conditions

✓ Institutional focus – Go-to-market strategy prioritizes institutional flows that drive majority of volumes

✓ Ambitious scaling – Target of one trillion BRL circulation within 10 years

Have a great week everyone,

-AWS

Brazil Crypto Report is presented by

Avenia is the programmable financial infrastructure for Latin America. Connect to local payment rails like PIX, SPEI and CBU — using stablecoins as settlement — and unlock real-time, cross-border payments without banks, FX desks, or SWIFT.

Whether you’re building a wallet, a crypto card, or a global treasury solution, Avenia gives you the APIs and compliance-ready infrastructure to scale in LatAm. Move money between BRL, USD, MXN and more — fast, transparent, and fully on-chain.

https://avenia.io/

Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.

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Ola pessoal!

The era of taxation loopholes and gray areas appears to be rapidly coming to an end in Brazil.

Thiago Barbosa, partner at Salles Nogueira Advogados and a crypto tax law expert, joins the show to discuss sweeping regulatory changes that will transform how Brazilian crypto holders must report and pay taxes on their digital assets.

Brazil is undergoing a major compliance transformation on two fronts. First, the new DeCripto regime replaces the old Normative Instruction 1888 reporting requirements, aligning Brazil with the OECD’s Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF).

This isn’t just a bureaucratic update - it’s Brazil joining a global information-sharing network that enables tax authorities to exchange crypto holder data across borders. In other words, if you’re a Brazilian trading on a foreign exchange, that platform will be reporting your activity back to the Receita Federal.

Perhaps the most contentious development is the Finance Ministry’s stance on applying IOF (tax on financial operations) to stablecoin transactions. Here’s the issue: IOF was created before stablecoins existed, and the current law only covers currency issued by governments - not digital representations of fiat issued by private companies like USDT or USDC. This creates a legal loophole that technically exempts stablecoins from IOF.

However, the government is engaged in what Thiago calls “rhetoric warfare.” By publicly stating that IOF will apply to stablecoins, they’re using fear to discourage companies from adopting them, even though they lack the legal authority to collect the tax without Congressional action.

When companies avoid stablecoins out of uncertainty, they stick to traditional fiat channels where the government collects more fees. It’s regulatory intimidation without legislative backing, and Thiago warns that the Receita may attempt to unilaterally collect IOF on stablecoin transactions anyway, forcing companies into costly legal battles to defend themselves.

Key Takeaways:

* Global reporting is here: Foreign exchanges must now report Brazilian user data to the Receita Federal under the OECD framework, creating an international surveillance net

* Three reporting obligations: Exchanges in Brazil, foreign platforms serving Brazilian users, and individual crypto holders all face new disclosure requirements

* VASP licensing gets serious: The Central Bank’s new requirements demand significant capital, compliance infrastructure, and regulatory approval to operate

* IOF stablecoin limbo: The government claims IOF applies to stablecoins despite legal gaps, using fear tactics to discourage adoption while avoiding legislative process

* Lifestyle monitoring intensifies: The Receita Federal is investing heavily in AI and surveillance tools to identify mismatches between reported income and actual spending patterns

The Bigger Picture: Financial Surveillance Escalates

Perhaps most concerning is what Thiago revealed toward the end of our conversation: this crypto crackdown is part of a much broader financial surveillance push by the Brazilian government. The IRS is pouring resources into tracking everything from Instagram posts showcasing luxury lifestyles to international travel patterns—all to identify taxpayers whose spending doesn’t match their declared income.

As Thiago bluntly put it, the window for undeclared crypto wealth is closing fast. With international data sharing, AI-powered surveillance, and increasingly sophisticated enforcement mechanisms, the “degens” who thought they could stay one step ahead of the Receita Federal are running out of room to maneuver.

The message is clear: Brazil is serious about bringing crypto into the regulated fold, and non-compliance is becoming an increasingly risky bet.

You can connect with Thiago on Linkedin and Instagram

Have a great week everyone,

-AWS

Brazil Crypto Report is presented by

Avenia is the programmable financial infrastructure for Latin America. Connect to local payment rails like PIX, SPEI and CBU — using stablecoins as settlement — and unlock real-time, cross-border payments without banks, FX desks, or SWIFT.

Whether you’re building a wallet, a crypto card, or a global treasury solution, Avenia gives you the APIs and compliance-ready infrastructure to scale in LatAm. Move money between BRL, USD, MXN and more — fast, transparent, and fully on-chain.

https://avenia.io/

Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.

Recent Episodes

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🔥 Join the BCR English language Telegram group to continue the conversation

Ola pessoal!

Today’s episode is with Justin Norman, founder of The Flip, to discuss his recent on-the-ground research into stablecoin adoption across Latin America. Justin has spent years documenting technology adoption in emerging markets, and his latest YouTube documentary series provides rare, unfiltered insights into how stablecoins are actually being used in the region.

The Argentina Paradox

Justin’s investigation in Argentina revealed a fascinating disconnect. Despite $90 billion in stablecoin transaction volumes, visible retail adoption remains minimal. You won’t find prices listed in USDT or widespread merchant acceptance.

So where are these volumes coming from? The answer lies in understanding stablecoins’ true utility in Argentina’s distorted economy. They primarily serve as store-of-value instruments and facilitate cross-border trade, rather than functioning as everyday payment methods. This reflects the reality of Argentina’s parallel exchange markets and chronic dollar shortages - conditions that create natural demand for dollar-denominated digital assets.

Be sure to catch Justin’s brilliant documentary exploring stablecoins in Argentina below👇

Beyond the Hype

Justin’s work cuts through the prevailing narratives around stablecoin adoption. While North American and European institutions focus on shaving basis points and improving settlement times, emerging markets face fundamentally different problems: currency devaluation, capital controls, and inadequate access to global financial infrastructure.

The adoption pattern Justin documented isn’t limited to Argentina. He found striking similarities between Latin American markets like Bolivia and African markets like Nigeria—countries facing comparable macro pressures including fuel subsidy issues, dollar shortages, and import-dependent economies.

Infrastructure Matters

One key differentiator Justin identified: Latin America’s relatively robust payment infrastructure creates better conditions for stablecoin on-ramps and off-ramps compared to many African markets. The ability to scan a QR code and instantly convert stablecoins to local currency requires strong local payment rails—infrastructure that exists in varying degrees across emerging markets.

Key Takeaways:

* Real use cases differ from expectations: Stablecoins in Latin America primarily serve store-of-value and cross-border trade functions, not retail payments

* Context is everything: Understanding macro conditions (dollar shortages, parallel markets, currency controls) is essential to understanding adoption patterns

* Infrastructure enables adoption: Strong local payment systems make stablecoin conversion seamless, creating better user experiences

* Emerging markets share common drivers: Similar economic pressures across Latin America and Africa create comparable crypto adoption patterns, though at different stages

Justin’s documentary series represents essential viewing for anyone seeking to understand genuine stablecoin adoption beyond the hype cycle.

You can connect with Justin on Linkedin.

Have a great week everyone,

-AWS

Brazil Crypto Report is presented by

Avenia is the programmable financial infrastructure for Latin America. Connect to local payment rails like PIX, SPEI and CBU — using stablecoins as settlement — and unlock real-time, cross-border payments without banks, FX desks, or SWIFT.

Whether you’re building a wallet, a crypto card, or a global treasury solution, Avenia gives you the APIs and compliance-ready infrastructure to scale in LatAm. Move money between BRL, USD, MXN and more — fast, transparent, and fully on-chain.

https://avenia.io/

Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.

Recent Episodes

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Olá pessoal!

For today’s episode I’m joined by Thomaz Teixeira, CEO of BRL1, and Ben Reid, Head of Stablecoins at Bitso, to discuss the BRL1 stablecoin project.

BRL1 represents a departure from the typical competitive dynamics we see in crypto markets. Instead of each exchange launching its own stablecoin, major Brazilian platforms Mercado Bitcoin, Bitso, Foxbit, and Cainvest formed a consortium to build shared infrastructure.

Despite launching just months ago, BRL1 has already achieved impressive market penetration, regularly trading as the sixth or seventh highest-volume crypto asset on Brazilian exchanges, ahead of established tokens like Dogecoin and sometimes even Solana.

More significantly, BRL1 is capturing roughly half the trading volume of USDC in Brazil on centralized exchanges, a remarkable feat considering every user already had access to dollar-denominated stablecoins.

What makes BRL1 particularly compelling is its focus on institutional use cases. The project is attracting significant interest from market makers and liquidity providers who need efficient rails for moving value between exchanges globally.

As Teixeira explained, his background in high-frequency trading and algorithmic arbitrage positioned him to understand the friction points in cross-exchange liquidity flows, problems that BRL1 was specifically designed to address.

Reid provided valuable context on the broader stablecoin landscape in Latin America, noting that institutional market makers are increasingly positioning themselves across G20 markets and seeking to onboard trusted local currency stablecoins. This isn’t speculative positioning - these players are responding to real demand from corporates conducting cross-border payments and financial institutions seeking more efficient settlement mechanisms.

We also also touch on how BRL1 addresses some of the interoperability challenges that Brazil’s now-shuttered Drex CBDC project aimed to solve. By creating standardized infrastructure that connects previously siloed liquidity pools, BRL1 is demonstrating how private sector innovation can fill gaps in market infrastructure.

Key Takeaways:

* Consortium Model Shows Promise: Competitors collaborating on shared infrastructure can create network effects that benefit all participants and accelerate adoption

* Institutional Traction Is Real: Market makers and liquidity providers are actively onboarding BRL1 for cross-exchange arbitrage and cross-border payment flows

* Volume Metrics Validate Demand: BRL1’s trading volume already represents 50% of USDC’s Brazilian exchange volume despite being live for only months

* Local Stablecoins Fill Market Gaps: Non-dollar stablecoins serve distinct use cases beyond currency speculation, particularly for regional market efficiency and capital flows

You can connect with Thomaz and Ben on Linkedin.

Have a great week everyone,

-AWS

Brazil Crypto Report is presented by

Avenia is the programmable financial infrastructure for Latin America. Connect to local payment rails like PIX, SPEI and CBU — using stablecoins as settlement — and unlock real-time, cross-border payments without banks, FX desks, or SWIFT.

Whether you’re building a wallet, a crypto card, or a global treasury solution, Avenia gives you the APIs and compliance-ready infrastructure to scale in LatAm. Move money between BRL, USD, MXN and more — fast, transparent, and fully on-chain.

https://avenia.io/

Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.

Recent Episodes

🙌 You can listen to BCR on your favorite podcast platform YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🔥 Join the BCR English language Telegram group to continue the conversation

Olá pessoal!

You surely saw that Brazil’s Central Bank released much-anticipated VASP regulations earlier this week. These rules have been in the works for three years now, and they bring significant clarity to the market and serve to (in some ways) level the playing field.

To discuss what’s in these regulations, timelines and likely winners and losers, I’m joined by Carlos Eduardo Russo, CEO and co-founder of Bluegreen, and Cesar Carvalho, partner at Baptista Luz Advogados.

Both Carlos and Cesar serve on the government relations team of the ABToken trade association and have been heavily involved in the rulemaking process.

The VASP regulatory package comprises three primary resolutions addressing authorization requirements, operational compliance standards, and the integration of crypto assets into Brazil’s foreign exchange market.

The framework represents the Central Bank’s attempt to balance market innovation with financial stability, though several contentious issues remain under discussion.

Key Themes and Takeaways

Authorization Timeline and Process

* Regulations take effect February 2, 2025, with VASPs required to file formal authorization requests within nine months

* A phased two-stage approval process is expected to span approximately three years from initial filing to final authorization

* Companies must demonstrate operational readiness immediately upon filing, including compliance with cybersecurity, risk management, and AML obligations

Capital Requirements Create Market Pressures

* Minimum regulatory capital ranges from R$11.2 million to R$37.2 million depending on the business model

* Industry advocates are pushing for a phased contribution calendar allowing companies up to two years to meet capital requirements

* Smaller players face significant barriers to entry, potentially consolidating market share among established entities

Level Playing Field—With Asterisks

* All VASPs—domestic and international—must now report customer transactions to tax authorities with no loopholes

* The framework addresses longstanding complaints from local exchanges about uneven compliance standards

* However, concerns persist about regulatory advantages favoring traditional financial institutions (”TradFi”) over new VASP entrants

Foreign Exchange Market Integration

* Stablecoin transactions are now formally incorporated into Brazil’s regulated FX market

* VASPs face stringent reporting requirements aligned with traditional FX brokers

* This legitimizes crypto-based cross-border payments within Brazil’s regulatory framework

The regulations represent a conservative, iterative approach from the central bank, which has signaled openness to continued industry dialogue.

For stakeholders, the coming months will be critical as firms assess their compliance pathways and the industry advocates for refinements to ensure genuine competitive parity across all market participants.

You can connect with Carlos and Cesar on Linkedin.

Have a great week everyone,

-AWS

Brazil Crypto Report is presented by

Avenia is the programmable financial infrastructure for Latin America. Connect to local payment rails like PIX, SPEI and CBU — using stablecoins as settlement — and unlock real-time, cross-border payments without banks, FX desks, or SWIFT.

Whether you’re building a wallet, a crypto card, or a global treasury solution, Avenia gives you the APIs and compliance-ready infrastructure to scale in LatAm. Move money between BRL, USD, MXN and more — fast, transparent, and fully on-chain.

https://avenia.io/

Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.

Recent Episodes

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Olá pessoal!

Today’s episode is with Paulo David, CEO and co-founder of AmFi, one of Brazil’s leading real-world asset tokenization platforms.

Paulo is a serial entrepreneur who previously built and sold two major Brazilian fintechs - including Grafeno, which has processed over US$18 billion in transactions. He brings invaluable insights into how blockchain technology can transform the country’s capital markets.

The Opportunity: Brazil’s “Most Attractive Export”

Paulo frames Brazil’s challenge succinctly: the country maintains the world’s second-highest interest rates, yet global investors remain largely absent from its private credit markets.

While foreign capital flows freely into Brazilian equities, commodities, and venture investments, the private credit sector remains inaccessible due to complexity, lack of transparency, excessive intermediaries, and the absence of secondary markets. AmFi aims to bridge this gap by creating a standardized, transparent platform that connects Brazilian yield with global capital.

Market Scale and Growth Trajectory

The numbers tell a compelling story. Brazil’s capital markets have exploded from $20 billion to $150 billion in recent years, growing at approximately 40% annually with projections to reach $500 billion in the coming years.

Yet a stark disparity remains: Brazil’s economy is 13 times smaller than the United States, but its private credit market is 56 times smaller. In Brazil, roughly 80% of business financing flows through traditional banks, while in the US, capital markets dominate - a dynamic Paulo sees shifting rapidly.

Infrastructure Solutions Through Technology

Drawing from his experience at Grafeno, where his solutions touched nearly 40% of all capital market assets in Brazil, Paulo identified critical infrastructure gaps that blockchain uniquely addresses.

Unlike developed markets where technology provides incremental improvements, in Brazil it solves fundamental structural problems around transparency, automation, and market access.

Expansion and Economic Impact

AmFi’s near-term strategy focuses on consolidating its Brazilian presence while targeting distribution partnerships in Southeast Asia and the Middle East - regions with advanced digital asset adoption and appetite for emerging market yield.

Paulo emphasized that increased foreign participation will drive competition, reduce spreads, and ultimately lower borrowing costs for Brazilian businesses, creating positive ripple effects throughout the economy.

Key Takeaways:

* Market opportunity: Brazilian private credit markets growing 40% annually toward $500B+

* Infrastructure gap: Blockchain solves transparency, accessibility, and secondary market challenges

* Economic impact: Foreign capital influx will increase competition and reduce borrowing costs

* Regulatory tailwinds: Brazil’s Central Bank actively supporting tokenization initiatives

* Global expansion: Southeast Asia and Middle East prioritized for investor distribution

You can connect with Paulo on Linkedin.

Have a great week everyone,

-AWS

Brazil Crypto Report is presented by

Avenia is the programmable financial infrastructure for Latin America. Connect to local payment rails like PIX, SPEI and CBU — using stablecoins as settlement — and unlock real-time, cross-border payments without banks, FX desks, or SWIFT.

Whether you’re building a wallet, a crypto card, or a global treasury solution, Avenia gives you the APIs and compliance-ready infrastructure to scale in LatAm. Move money between BRL, USD, MXN and more — fast, transparent, and fully on-chain.

https://avenia.io/

Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.

Figment supports the growth of the global blockchain ecosystem by making staking simple, transparent, and scalable. Figment is at the forefront of this transformation, providing the trusted infrastructure, insights, and expertise needed to enable clients to stake confidently.

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Olá pessoal!

For today’s episode I talk to Gui Gomes, CEO and founder of OranjeBTC, which became Latin America’s largest bitcoin treasury company and the 26th largest in the world when it publicly listed on Brazil’s B3 exchange earlier this month.

We discuss how Oranje aims to be more than just a vehicle for acquiring bitcoin. Rather, Gui sees Oranje as a bitcoin-native company that will catalyze mass adoption of bitcoin across Latin America.

Key Takeaways:

* From Bridgewater to Bitcoin: Prior to joining Swan Bitcoin in 2022, Gomes spent several years at Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates, where exposure to Dalio’s “Changing World Order” research helped crystallize his conviction that bitcoin represents the future of reserve currencies. The parallels between Dalio’s thesis on currency cycles and bitcoin’s value proposition were impossible to ignore.

* Purpose-Built, Not Dabbling: Unlike other companies simply adding bitcoin to their balance sheets as a hedge, OranjeBTC is built from the ground up to operate on the bitcoin standard. Every aspect — from capital structure to hiring to cost basis — is designed around bitcoin accumulation and education.

* Latin America’s Unique Opportunity: The region’s history with currency devaluation and inflation makes bitcoin particularly compelling solution. As Gomes puts it: “If bitcoin is good for Americans, bitcoin is great for Latin Americans.” With nearly a billion people and abundant natural resources held back by monetary instability, moving to a bitcoin standard could be transformational for the region.

* US vs Brazil Adoption Gap: While US institutional understanding of bitcoin is more advanced, Brazil leads in regulatory clarity. Brazilian banks have been selling bitcoin directly from checking accounts since before US ETF approval—a capability American banks still don’t have.

* Aggressive Growth Plans: Orange holds approximately 3,700 BTC and continues buying weekly. The company plans to deploy multiple capital instruments — equity offerings, convertible notes, and other tools — to accelerate treasury growth while creating value for shareholders.

* Education as Mission: OranjeBTC is releasing comprehensive research papers on treasury companies, bitcoin fundamentals, and Latin American economic opportunities. It will be hosting institutional events and building educational content for both newcomers and sophisticated investors.

Gomes brings a unique perspective shaped by traditional finance experience and hardcore bitcoin conviction. His vision extends beyond corporate treasury strategy to national-level adoption, believing Brazil’s 215 million people could set a transformative example for emerging markets worldwide.

Gui also weighs in on the “debasement trade,” why digital natives will accelerate adoption, and how nation-states are just beginning to recognize bitcoin’s strategic importance.

You can connect with Gui on Linkedin.

Have a great week everyone,

-AWS

Brazil Crypto Report is presented by

Avenia is the programmable financial infrastructure for Latin America. Connect to local payment rails like PIX, SPEI and CBU — using stablecoins as settlement — and unlock real-time, cross-border payments without banks, FX desks, or SWIFT.

Whether you’re building a wallet, a crypto card, or a global treasury solution, Avenia gives you the APIs and compliance-ready infrastructure to scale in LatAm. Move money between BRL, USD, MXN and more — fast, transparent, and fully on-chain.

https://avenia.io/

Recent Episodes

🙌 You can listen to BCR on your favorite podcast platform YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts

🔥 Join the BCR English language Telegram group to continue the conversation

Olá pessoal!

Today’s episode is with David Taylor, CEO and co-founder of Etherfuse, where we explore what might be the most overlooked infrastructure gap in crypto: tokenized sovereign debt.

Taylor’s thesis is compelling: while crypto has created an explosion of speculative assets, it lacks the foundational building block that underpins all traditional finance: the risk-free rate. In TradFi, everything is measured against government bonds. But onchain? That benchmark simply doesn’t exist, creating a critical missing link between the blockchain and traditional finance worlds.

His mission is to bring nations “onchain” by tokenizing their sovereign debt, starting with Mexico and now expanding into Brazilian Tesouro bonds.

Key Takeaways:

* Infrastructure for onchain sovereign debt: Etherfuse positions itself as the AWS-like infrastructure layer for tokenized government bonds, handling regulatory compliance, security, and collateralization so builders can simply integrate and create financial products without recreating this complex foundation

* The non-USD opportunity: While most attention focuses on dollar-denominated assets, emerging markets like Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina offer clearer regulatory pathways and stronger incentives for innovation with local currency stablebonds

* Solving the liquidity problem: By combining yield-bearing sovereign debt with blockchain rails, stablebonds create natural incentives for liquidity in non-USD stablecoins - something the market has desperately needed

* Democratizing access to sovereign yields: By tokenizing government bonds as interest-bearing stablecoins, Etherfuse removes the traditional barriers that limited sovereign debt access to institutions and high-net-worth investors, allowing anyone with a crypto wallet to earn these yields

* Historical precedent matters: Taylor points out that successful economies historically started with bonds (Venice, Amsterdam, France), not just currency. Crypto needs to follow the same playbook

I really enjoyed this conversation with David and I hope you do as well. You can connect with him on Linkedin.

Have a great week everyone,

-AWS

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