The draft law on critical cryptocurrencies approved by the Committee on Economic Affairs will be considered in the Brazilian Senate no earlier than autumn. However, citizens can already purchase digital assets from local financial organizations, while the demand for cryptocurrency significantly exceeds forecasts.

For example, Nubank, which has 47 million customers in Brazil, opened the possibility of trading Bitcoin and Ethereum on its own Nucrypto platform in June. The service is presented in partnership with Paxos. The goal of the digital bank was to attract 1 million customers by the end of the year, it was achieved in just a month.

Competition in the Brazilian crypto market is getting tougher: in addition to Nucrypto, the Mexican Bitso crypto exchange has reached the same indicator, and Mercado Bitcoin is the leader with 5 million users. Fearing to miss the moment, Santander, one of the five largest banks in Brazil, also announced the appearance of a crypto platform in the coming months.

Adoption of cryptocurrencies is growing in South America by leaps and bounds.

A key role in the change of mood was played by the granting of Bitcoin by El Salvador of the status of legal tender. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Finance Minister Alejandro Celaya reported on the advantages of such a step: part of the population not covered by banks gained access to financial services, the inflow of foreign investment and tourist flow increased.

Basically, cryptocurrencies are of interest to residents of South America as a way to escape from high inflation. For example, in Argentina it reached 64%. When calculating in Argentine pesos, Bitcoin is more expensive than a year ago.

The situation is so deplorable that the transfer of Giuliano Galloppo from the Atletico Banfield football club to Sao Paulo was carried out in USDC stablecoins. For Argentina, this is the first case, but apparently not the last. Due to high inflation, football players are forced to constantly review contracts.

For the same reason, Argentina has one of the highest levels of cryptocurrency adoption in the world: at the end of 2021, 21% of citizens used or own cryptocurrency. In Brazil, inflation currently stands at 12%. With the aggravation of the economic situation, the adoption of cryptocurrencies will receive an additional impetus.