In a bid to further expand its Latin America presence, Bitso, one of Mexico’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has raised an undisclosed sum in its latest investment round.
According to an announcement made by Ripple today, the exchange’s latest funding round led by Ripple also saw the participation of notable investors, including United States-based crypto exchange and wallet provider Coinbase, Jump Capital, Digital Currency Group, and Pantera Capital.
Ripple stated that the exchange is planning to use the funds to boost its expansion into Brazil, Argentina, and some Latin American countries.
Launched in 2014, Bitso was established to provide financial service for Mexicans using cryptocurrency and the blockchain technology, the announcement reads.
Since its inception, the exchange has reportedly served more than 750,000 users, which includes both bank and unbanked citizens in the country, making Bitso the largest exchange in Mexico.
Commenting on the development, co-founder and CEO of Bitso, Daniel Vogel was quoted saying:
The region is ready for disruption, and we want to be the ones to do so by radically advancing financial inclusion for everyone.”
Ripple noted that the firm’s participation in its RippleNet service helps smoothen the ties between U.S. and Mexican payment systems, by providing the necessary liquidity for payments.
This is evident in Ripple’s recent launch of its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) in Mexico, which saw Ripple make Bitso as the primary exchange partner in the country. Ripple is hoping that its partnership with Bitso would help foster its ODL expansion in Latin America.
According to reports, close to 70 percent of Latin American citizens are unbanked, while other countries in the region are currently being faced with one microeconomic challenge or the other.
In Argentina, the shocking defeat of the country’s current president, Mauricio Macri, in the party’s primary election, and the subsequent crash of the Peso fiat currency showed that the nation is fed up with the president’s support of raising short-term debt to unsustainable levels.
Perhaps, Bitso’s expansion into the shores of Argentina could be what the country needs.
