Argentina’s Ripio has acquired BitcoinTrade, the second-largest crypto trade in Brazil, in a bid to extend its footprint throughout the frothy Lati
Argentina’s Ripio has acquired BitcoinTrade, the second-largest crypto trade in Brazil, in a bid to extend its footprint throughout the frothy Latin American crypto market.
Ripio (previously known as BitPagos) ended 2020 on a excessive, crossing the 1 million person milestone. Earlier final yr, the agency started wanting in earnest for an excellent slot in Brazil and selected BitcoinTrade, stated Ripio CEO and co-founder Sebastian Serrano. The monetary phrases of the deal weren’t revealed.
“Brazil has all the time been a vital marketplace for us,” Serrano stated in an interview. “BitcoinTrade has an excellent popularity out there, excellent processes and compliance. It additionally has a really significant person base – about 300,000 customers in Brazil – and excellent volumes on the trade.”
Serrano additionally pointed to BitcoinTrade’s well-established banking relationships in Brazil, which incorporates accounts with Santander, Banco Itaú and Banco do Brasil.
Brazil has the biggest GDP in Latin America and appears to be a extremely fascinating virgin territory amongst South American and Central American crypto exchanges. Final month, Mexico Metropolis-based crypto trade Bitso raised a $62 million funding spherical, a bit of which was earmarked for a Brazil push, the corporate stated.
“We’ve an excellent relationship with Bitso,” stated Serrano. “Bitso and ourselves are the 2 actually well-funded corporations with entry to enterprise capital. There are not any corporations in that place in Brazil. However actually I believe the chance is about rising your complete Latin America market.”
The agency, which now has over 150 workers in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico and Spain, has additionally raised capital from Draper Ventures, Pantera Capital and Digital Forex Group (which can be the proprietor of Coindesk). When it comes to earlier acquisitions, Ripio purchased Unisend, one other Latin American bitcoin trade again in 2015.
BitcoinTrade founder Carlos Andre Montenegro can be stepping down from day-to-day duties of working an trade to deal with working his household workplace. His function can be taken by Bernardo Teixeira, BitcoinTrade’s present CFO.
“We’re very excited and assured that Ripio is your best option to assist lengthen the trail we’ve constructed with BitcoinTrade in Brazil,” Montenegro stated in an announcement.