Mayra Siqueira is the Brazil community manager for the Algorand Foundation. In this episode we discuss Mayra's trajectory from journalism, to being Binance's first employee in Brazil and then ultimately to working on Algorand - a Layer 1 blockchain developed by renowned computer scientist and Turing Award winner Silvio Micali

We discuss the variety of use cases and applications being built on Algorand in Latin America, including tokenized commodities and NFT airplane tickets, and the types of programs and support Algorand Foundation offers for builders and developers in the region.

You can connect with Mayra on Linkedin and Algorand Brasil on Twitter

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On this edition of the BCR Weekly Recap, AWS and co-host Antonio Neto look at the week's big stories, including:

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Bruno Ramos de Sousa is head of US and Europe at Hashdex, one of the largest crypto asset managers in the world that offers ETFs and other exchange traded products in several markets. Contrary to the prevailing market narrative that a bitcoin ETF approval in the US is imminent, Bruno argues that landscape in the US has not fundamentally changed despite recent filings by Blackrock and other large TradFi players.

Connect with Bruno on Twitter and Linkedin

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Nicky Dyskant is one of the top fintech and capital markets lawyers in Brazil. In this conversation we discuss her role as an advisor to several key crypto companies operating in the country - including Fireblocks, 2TM, Vórtx QR Tokenizadora and Hashdex. We dive into her purview on Drex (formerly Digital Real), the crypto regulatory framework currently being developed by the Brazilian Central Bank and the current environment for security tokens and fixed income tokens in the country.

You can connect with Nicky on Linkedin

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Leandro Pereira is head of growth for Latam at Paysafe and a 10 year veteran of the Brazil crypto scene.

We discuss Leandro’s trajectory in the ecosystem and Paysafe's payments infrastructure in the region, which includes a digital wallet, debit and credit card products and APIs for connecting alternative payment methods. Paysafe's crypto payments stack also provides fiat on and off-ramp services, which has seen uptake among igaming and internet casino operators in the region.

We also talk about Borderless Money, a DeFi for charity project that Leandro co-founded that donates yield generated in DeFi protocols to social causes.

You can connect with Leandro on Linkedin

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Rai Auad is one of the top independent Web3 educators and content creators in Brazil. In this episode we talk about how Rai got her start in crypto via Axie Infinity and other crypto games in 2021 before quitting her job at Itaú to become a full-time content creator in the space. We discuss how she engages her audience across different platforms and channels, as well as the ups and downs of being a YouTube and social media personality.

You can follow Rai across all of her channels

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Gean Chu is a partner at Honey Island Capital, a Curitiba-based venture firm founded by veterans of Ebanx. In this conversation we discuss Honey Island's fintech investment theses and Gean's new Web3 fund focused on liquid tokens and on-chain strategies like staking, farming and liquidity provision

You can connect with Gean on Linkedin and Twitter

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It's been a rough few months for the crypto custody world. Ledger sparked a backlash with a controversial key recovery proposal, regulated custodian Prime Trust was put into receivership by the state of Nevada following allegations it misused customer funds, and Nasdaq backed away from plans to launch its own crypto custody service.

Composecure CPO Adam Lowe joins the show to discuss the crypto custody challenges and potential solutions. Composecure is a leading manufacturer of high-end metal payment cards and authentication technologies. It is also the manufacturer of the Arculus hardware wallet, which features three-factor authentication and military-grade cryptography and focuses on delivering on safety, simplicity and security and and how this solution addresses the crypto industry's ongoing custody woes.

Adam discusses Arculus's dual key solution for retail customers, as well as its B2B white label solution - which has partnerships already established in Asia and Latam.

You can connect with Adam on Linkedin

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This week’s podcast is a recording of a panel I hosted with Thales Freitas of Bitso, AB InBev’s Daniel Tartaro and fintech expert Bruno Diniz at Digital Finance Brasil last month at the University of São Paulo.

The panel explored how the respective worlds of crypto and fintech in Brazil are quickly converging, be it through Bitso’s efforts to bridge traditional finance with DeFi and CeFi, AB InBev’s loyalty program that uses tokenization and blockchain tech, and the importance of trust in established brands embracing these technologies even in a down market.

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Renan Kruger is a digital asset specialist at Santander Brasil, one of Brazil's largest banks and one that is actively involved in the country's budding digital asset space. This episode was recorded live at Digital Finance Brasil on June 22 at the University of São Paulo. We discuss:

You can connect with Renan on Linkedin

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