> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://stablecoininsider.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Stablecoin Payments in Latin America 2026: Market Size, Volumes, and Growth by Country - URL: https://stablecoininsider.org/stablecoin-payments-in-latin-america-2026/ - Published: 2026-09-01T07:37:18.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-01T07:37:18.000Z - Description: Discover how big Latin America's stablecoin market is in 2026, with volumes, growth rates, and country-by-country data from Brazil to Bolivia. - Author: Milos Djukanovic - Tags: Analysis, The LATAM Stablecoin Economy 2026, Movantis, Mandioca, Pomelo, Rise, VelaFi In June 2026, stablecoins settled a record $1.79 trillion in adjusted transaction volume in a single month, even as total stablecoin supply contracted for the first time in four years. Stablecoin Insider tracks where that volume actually lands in the real economy, and no region shows the shift from holding to transacting more clearly than Latin America. Over 90% of Brazil's crypto transaction volume is now stablecoin-related, Argentina runs the region's most dollarized retail market, and Bolivia's state banks began selling USDT in April 2026\. This article breaks down the size of the LATAM stablecoin market in 2026, drawing on "[**The LATAM Stablecoin Economy 2026**](https://stablecoininsider.org/new-stablecoin-insider-report-the-latam-stablecoin-economy-2026/)" report and the operator research behind it: total volumes, the stablecoin share of activity, country-by-country figures, the shift from retail to B2B, and where capital is flowing. ### Key Takeaways - LATAM processed nearly $1.5 trillion in crypto volume between mid-2022 and mid-2025. - Stablecoins moved $324 billion across the region in 2025, up 89% year-on-year. - Brazil received $318.8 billion, one third of regional volume, with 90%+ stablecoin-related. - Global B2B stablecoin payments grew 733% in 2025, reaching $226 billion. - Fintech captured 61% of LATAM's $4.1 billion in 2025 venture funding. [![Stablecoin Payments in Latin America 2026](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/image-1.png)](https://stablecoininsider.org/new-stablecoin-insider-report-the-latam-stablecoin-economy-2026/) ## How Big Is the LATAM Stablecoin Market in 2026? Latin America recorded nearly $1.5 trillion in cumulative cryptocurrency transaction volume between July 2022 and June 2025, with monthly activity climbing from $20.8 billion in mid-2022 to a record $87.7 billion in December 2024, a more than fourfold increase in thirty months. The stablecoin share of that activity is what separates LATAM from every other region. In 2025, regional on-chain volume rose 60% year-on-year; of the $730 billion received during the year, $324 billion moved through stablecoin transactions, an 89% year-on-year surge. Monthly active crypto users grew 18%, three times faster than in the United States. Two structural features define the market: 1. Stablecoin purchases exceed half of all exchange purchases in Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia, meaning the asset mix is payments-shaped rather than speculation-shaped. 2. 64% of LATAM crypto activity takes place on centralized exchanges, higher than North America or Europe. According to research by [**Pomelo**](https://www.pomelo.la/en), the card-issuing infrastructure company, that concentration primes the region for infrastructure connecting on-chain stablecoin holdings to off-chain spending through cards and local-rail off-ramps. --- ## Stablecoin Volume by Country: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Bolivia Concentration is high, and the shape of activity differs by market. ### 1\. Brazil Brazil is the anchor. The country received $318.8 billion in crypto value between July 2024 and June 2025, roughly one third of all LATAM volume, up 109.9% period-over-period, placing it fifth on the Global Crypto Adoption Index. More than 90% of those flows are stablecoin-related, a figure confirmed by the central bank governor himself. Growth in the last measured period was driven largely by institutional and large institutional transfers, both up more than 100% period-over-period. ### **2\. Argentina** Argentina is the second-largest regional crypto economy at roughly $93.9 billion received, and the most dollarized. Stablecoins account for over 60% of the country's crypto activity, and monthly active user penetration reached 12% in 2025, more than a quarter of all regional activity. USDT and USDC made up 72% of all crypto purchases on the country's largest exchange in 2024 versus just 8% for Bitcoin, and trading spikes reliably around salary dates as workers convert pay into digital dollars. ### **3\. Colombia** Colombia sits in the regional top five, with stablecoins making up 48% of exchange purchases in 2024, aided by restrictions on USD bank accounts. According to research by [**Mandioca**](https://www.mandioca.global/), the cross-border trade settlement platform, the peso depreciated roughly 15% during that year, from about COP 3,822 to COP 4,409 per dollar, enough to materially impact margins and working capital for any importer invoiced in dollars. ### **4\. Bolivia** Bolivia is the outlier that proves the pattern. The country recorded $14.8 billion in crypto transaction volume over twelve months, remarkable for a nation that banned crypto outright until 2024\. Transaction-level evidence from Mandioca's platform recorded parallel-market dollar premiums of 80-95% above the official rate during the shortage. By April 2026, state-controlled Banco Unión was selling USDT through its Yasta wallet, and the Economy Ministry was formally evaluating recognising USDT as a payment instrument. | Market | Headline figure | Stablecoin signal | | --------- | ------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------- | | Brazil | $318.8B received Jul 2024 to Jun 2025; +109.9% | 90%+ of flows stablecoin-related | | Argentina | \~$93.9B received; 2nd-largest regional market | 60%+ stablecoin activity; 12% MAU penetration | | Colombia | Top-5 regional market | 48% of exchange purchases in stablecoins | | Bolivia | $14.8B in 12 months despite a ban lifted in 2024 | USDT under formal review as payment instrument | [![Stablecoin Payments in Latin America 2026](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/image-2.png)](https://stablecoininsider.org/new-stablecoin-insider-report-the-latam-stablecoin-economy-2026/) ## Why Latin America Drives Stablecoin Adoption: The Macro Drivers The volumes above rest on structural conditions that are decades old. ### **1\. Inflation** Argentina closed 2023 with the world's highest inflation at 211.4%, cut it to 117.8% in 2024, and reached 31.5% in 2025, its lowest reading in eight years. By mid-2026 the rate had ticked back to 33.5%. Even in its best year in nearly a decade, a peso saver lost roughly a third of their purchasing power. According to research by [**Rise**](https://www.riseworks.io/), the international payroll platform, this dynamic has reshaped hiring as well as savings: stablecoin payout options give international employers access to skilled talent in inflation-affected markets that slow, expensive cross-border rails previously made hard to reach, while professionals in those markets gain access to employers who were deterred by payment complexity and currency volatility. ### **2\. Remittance dependence** Latin America and the Caribbean received approximately $163 billion in remittances in 2024\. Legacy channels remain expensive: the global average cost of sending $200 was 6.36% in Q3 2025, with banks at 14.99%. On the dominant retail stablecoin chain, median transfer fees were roughly $0.09. ### **3\. Fragmented rails** Brazil's PIX closed 2025 with 79.8 billion transactions, up from 63.5 billion in 2024, and Colombia's Bre-B processed 617 million transactions in its first six months. None of these systems interoperate or cross borders. According to research by [**VelaFi**](https://www.velafi.com/), the Asia-LATAM cross-border settlement company, each country is its own market with different regulatory frameworks, FX controls, and preferred payment methods (SPEI, PIX, CVU, Nequi), a fragmentation that has been a structural barrier to regional scale for any business operating across markets. Stablecoins have become the interoperability layer between them. ### **4\. Underbanking** Account ownership in the region rose from 39% of adults in 2011 to 70% in 2024, but roughly three in ten adults still have no financial account. An estimated 57.7 million Latin Americans, about 12% of the population, already held digital currencies by early 2025. --- ## From Retail to B2B: Where the Growth Is Now The defining shift of 2025-2026 is the migration of stablecoin volume from retail hedging into business settlement. Globally, raw stablecoin transaction volume reached roughly $35 trillion annualized, but only about $390 billion of that represented genuine real-economy payments such as vendor invoices, remittances, payroll, and card spending. Within that real-payments universe, B2B transactions accounted for roughly 60% at $226 billion, up 733% year-on-year, driven by supply-chain payments, cross-border supplier settlement, and treasury liquidity management. Card-linked spending was the second-fastest grower at 673%. LATAM operator data mirrors the global curve. According to research by VelaFi, its Asia-LATAM settlement volume grew 300%+ in 2025 versus 2024, led by import/export and logistics clients, with 20%+ growth in the three months to mid-2026 alone and SMBs now among the fastest-growing client segments, because small businesses with Asia-facing supply chains have no treasury team or banking relationship able to absorb a slow settlement. According to research by Mandioca, the platform has processed over $1 billion across 100+ enterprise clients, with more than 90% of volume tied to real trade activity and typical tickets of $20,000 to $250,000, and settlement compressed from 2-5 business days via correspondent banking to same-day, often minutes. The adoption sequence is now visible in three phases: | Phase | Period | Dominant use case | Evidence | | ------------- | ------------ | -------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Retail | 2020-2023 | Inflation hedging, dollar savings | Retail-sized stablecoin value in Argentina grew faster than any other asset type | | B2B | 2024-present | Supplier payments, trade settlement, payroll | +733% global B2B growth; 300%+ LATAM corridor growth | | Institutional | Opening now | Interbank and card-network settlement | Brazil institutional transfers +100%; Visa launched US USDC settlement in Dec 2025 | The payroll layer is following the same trajectory. According to research by Rise, 25% of companies globally now pay some workers in cryptocurrency, stablecoins account for over 90% of crypto payroll transactions, and USDC alone holds a 63% share of crypto salaries, with adoption moving well beyond crypto-native firms into agencies, startups, and conventional global businesses with international teams. Institutional rails are also opening. The Circle Payments Network reached $8.3 billion in annualized volume by March 2026\. According to research by Movantis, the regulated settlement network connecting 70+ MTOs and banks to 90,000+ payout locations with $60B+ in annual volume. Stablecoins add the most value on the interbank leg between institutions, where settlement speed and capital efficiency matter most, while the last mile into local currency continues to run on regulated local rails; the network now routes stablecoin and traditional rails through a single integration rather than replacing one with the other. [![Stablecoin Payments in Latin America 2026](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/image-3.png)](https://stablecoininsider.org/new-stablecoin-insider-report-the-latam-stablecoin-economy-2026/) ## Where the Capital Is Flowing: LATAM Stablecoin Funding in 2025-2026 Capital has followed the volume. LATAM startups raised $4.1 billion in venture capital across 681 rounds in 2025, up 13.8% year-on-year, with fintech capturing 61% of all funding. The momentum carried into Q1 2026, when LATAM startups raised $1.03 billion, up 12% year-on-year, including a $70 million round for Mexico City-based stablecoin app ARQ co-led by Founders Fund and Sequoia Capital. Card-infrastructure operator Pomelo closed a $55 million Series C backed by Kaszek, Insight Partners, and Index Ventures ahead of launching stablecoin-denominated card programs; according to research by Pomelo, the company now serves 170+ clients and issues across 150+ countries, with programs settling in local currency, USD, or USDC depending on the use case. > The funding pattern matches the volume pattern: capital is flowing to infrastructure layers, not to token speculation. --- ## What the Numbers Mean for 2026-2027 The global supply base underpinning all of this stood at roughly $300-316 billion in mid-2026, with USDT at about 59% and USDC at about 24% of supply. Usage has decoupled from supply: record transaction volume alongside a contracting market cap signals that stablecoins are becoming purely transactional instruments. For LATAM, whose demand was always transactional, that decoupling is a feature. The LATAM Stablecoin Economy 2026 report identifies three growth vectors for the next phase: SMB-driven broadening of trade corridors, intra-regional settlement between national instant-payment systems, and Brazil's absorption of stablecoins into its supervised FX framework under central bank Resolutions 519/520/521, effective February 2026. [![Stablecoin Payments in Latin America 2026](https://storage.ghost.io/c/73/6a/736af0e4-2274-4543-a329-2952b2b52abc/content/images/2026/09/image-4.png)](https://stablecoininsider.org/new-stablecoin-insider-report-the-latam-stablecoin-economy-2026/) ## Conclusion Stablecoin Insider covers the data behind stablecoin adoption, and Latin America is the clearest market-level proof point available today. The region moved $324 billion through stablecoins in 2025, Brazil alone accounts for $318.8 billion in crypto value with 90%+ stablecoin-related, Argentina and Bolivia show the inflation and dollar-scarcity drivers from two angles, and operator research from Mandioca, Movantis, Pomelo, Rise, and VelaFi confirms that the fastest-growing segment is no longer retail savings but business settlement, up 733% globally in a single year. The full country tables, corridor analysis, infrastructure map, and CFO primer are in The LATAM Stablecoin Economy 2026 report. [Download the Full Report](https://stablecoininsider.org/new-stablecoin-insider-report-the-latam-stablecoin-economy-2026/) ***Read Next:*** - [**New Stablecoin Insider Report: 'The LATAM Stablecoin Economy 2026'**](https://stablecoininsider.org/new-stablecoin-insider-report-the-latam-stablecoin-economy-2026/) --- ## FAQs: ### **1\. How big is the stablecoin market in Latin America in 2026?** The stablecoin market in Latin America in 2026 is defined by $324 billion moved through stablecoin transactions in 2025, up 89% year-on-year, within nearly $1.5 trillion of cumulative crypto volume recorded between July 2022 and June 2025. ### **2\. Which Latin American country has the highest stablecoin adoption?** The Latin American country with the highest stablecoin adoption is Brazil, which received $318.8 billion in crypto value between July 2024 and June 2025 with over 90% of flows stablecoin-related, followed by Argentina, where stablecoins account for over 60% of crypto activity. ### **3\. Why is stablecoin adoption growing so fast in Latin America** Stablecoin adoption is growing so fast in Latin America because of persistent inflation, dollar scarcity, expensive remittances averaging 6.36% per transfer, fragmented domestic payment rails that do not cross borders, and roughly three in ten adults still lacking a bank account. ### **4\. What is the fastest-growing stablecoin use case in Latin America?** The fastest-growing stablecoin use case in Latin America is B2B supplier and trade settlement, mirroring global B2B stablecoin payments that grew 733% in 2025 to $226 billion, with LATAM corridor operators such as VelaFi recording 300%+ volume growth and Mandioca processing over $1 billion in trade-related volume. ### **5\. How much venture funding did LATAM stablecoin and fintech startups raise in 2025?** LATAM stablecoin and fintech startups raised the majority of the region's $4.1 billion in 2025 venture capital, with fintech capturing 61% of all funding across 681 rounds, followed by $1.03 billion raised in Q1 2026. --- ***Disclaimer:*** This content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice; no material herein should be interpreted as a recommendation, endorsement, or solicitation to buy or sell any financial instrument, and readers should conduct their own independent research or consult a qualified professional.