Friday Briefing: Argentina stomps on banks’ crypto moves

May 6, 2022

#TopStory 🔝

Argentina stomps on banks’ crypto moves

Argentina’s Central Bank last night put a sharp brake on traditional banks’ moves into crypto trading.

In a statement, the Central Bank said that financial institutions are not allowed to facilitate trading of digital assets that are not expressly authorized and regulated.

The declaration came just three days after Banco Galicia, one of the country’s main lenders, had enabled the purchase, sale and custody of crypto through its accounts and digital channels, in a move which was see as potentially encouraging for other banks. Brubank, a fintech, had also announced options for trading cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin or ether this week.

The Central Bank’s statement comes amid a series of regulatory advances in Argentina that suggested the country might be warming to digital assets. The National Securities Commission (CNV) recently launched a fintech innovation hub – and singled out crypto startups in the process. Meanwhile the country’s currency issuer advanced the search for new technologies for issuing digital currencies. 

As they say… two steps forward, one step back.

#Investments  📈

Xepelin raises US$111m in series B round 

Xepelin, a Chilean small-business payments fintech, closed a series B investment round co-led by Avenir and Kaszek for US$111 million. The proceeds will be used to bolster its B2B payments platform in Chile and Mexico and to explore new markets.

YoCripto closes investment round for US$4m 

YoCripto, a Mexican cryptocurrency-backed credit card fintech, closed a US$4 million seed round led by DILA Capital. The fintech plans to use the cash to strengthen its business proposal, which is aimed at young, unbanked people and offers a card with cashback of up to 3% in bitcoin for each purchase.

#Regulation 📜

Here’s some of the key regulatory developments, courtesy of our new service iupanaPro

Colombia seeks green finance, alternative data for sandbox  

Colombia’s financial regulator, the SFC, will invite participants to its regulatory sandbox with an emphasis on fintechs with green finance initiatives, distributed ledgers and sources of alternative data.

Lawmakers propose new cybersecurity entity in Peru (while the wait for clear rules drags on) 

A group of lawmakers in Peru proposed the creation of a national cybersecurity center for fintechs to report cyberattacks, but specialists say that the creation of a new body could further delay the publication of fraud-prevention rules.

#Authorizations 

Banco de Crédito e Inversiones (BCI) nabs Peruvian license 

Chilean bank BCI is preparing to start operating in Peru after receiving the green light from that country’s banking regulator. BCI Peru CEO Gonzalo Camargo said the lender hopes to become a bank of reference for local companies.

Shopee authorized to operate as a payment
company 

Singaporean e-commerce giant Shopee received authorization from Brazil’s central bank to operate as a payment company and issuer of electronic money. The online marketplace is very popular among Brazilians and its expansionary move is in line with other retailers, such as Mercado Libre or Magazine Luisa, which have also branched into payments and other financial services.

#Alliances 🤝

Up Sí Vale partners with BPC  

The London-based Up Group chose payments company BPC to accelerate the digital transformation of its prepaid card product in Mexico.

Veritran and SpyCloud join forces

Low-code solutions developer Veritran and fraud prevention firm SpyCloud joined forces to offer identity protection services, from account creation and authentication to transaction risk mitigation.

#People 💁🏻‍♀️💁‍♂️

Argentine Fintech Chamber reelects board

Ignacio Plaza, of Primary Ventures, was reelected president of the body for the next two years. Mario López, CEO of Poincenot Technology Studio, remains first vice president and Romina Simonelli, of Ualá, gets another term as second vice president.

#iupanaExclusive 🔥

Open finance is advancing in Brazil. However, there are still obstacles to realizing the system’s true potential for expanding financial inclusion.

• Brazil’s central bank wants open banking to evolve into open finance, which covers a wider range of services, such as investments and pensions.
• In March, interactions in the open finance  framework (API calls) grew 112% month-on-month but issues such as data quality are holding back growth.
• Educating consumers about the benefits of open banking remains a major
  challenge,

Find out more in our iupana exclusive.

Over and out

That’s it – you’re up to date!

Wishing you an easy end to the week – and stay tuned for our 1-1 interview with Pierpaolo Barbieri of Ualá on Monday.