Brazil Crypto Report

Olá pessoal!Portal do Bitcoin reporter Fernando Martines joins the podcast (available on Spotify) to discuss the emergence and collapse of Braiscompany - a R$1.5 billion (US$289 million) cryptocurrency pyramid scheme that operated out of the northeastern state of Paraíba. In what some have dubbed as Brazil's last major bitcoin Ponzi scheme, the operation involved everyone from local politicians and business leaders to an estimated 10,000 retail investors from around the country. Braiscompany provided handsome monthly payouts to investors while enriching its extravagant and charismatic founders Antonio Neto Ais and Fabrícia Campos. The music stopped in late 2022 when it ceased making payments amid the crypto market collapse, prompting a backlash from angry customers and inquiries from authorities. The company's headquarters were raided on February 16 by Federal Police. However, Neto Ais and Campos were nowhere to be found when authorities arrived and remain at-large, with some suspecting that they fled to Argentina. Authorities in Paraíba have appealed to Interpol for assistance in tracking them down. Meanwhile, the company remains leaderless and directionless. Employees have been advised to retain their own person legal counsel. Unfortunately, the prospects of Braiscompany investors recouping their money looks bleak.Fernando and the team at Portal do Bitcoin have been doing an incredible job of reporting out this story since customer complaints began to emerge late last year, and I’m grateful that he took the time to help us better understand the situation. I enjoyed this conversation with Fernando and I hope you do as well.- AWS Thanks for reading Brazil Crypto Report! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

E aí pessoal?I’m excited to share the latest BCR podcast recording with João Marco Braga da Cunha , who is a Brazilian economist and portfolio manager with Hashdex, Brazil's largest crypto asset manager. In this episode, we discuss a proposal that was shared recently by Brazilian and Argentine leaders about creating a shared currency between the two countries. The idea is that this could further regional integration, stimulate trade and reduce dependence on the US dollar. The idea generated a lot of coverage mainstream financial media circles and the crypto community. Even Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong weighed in on Twitter suggesting that the countries should simply adopt bitcoin.Would this shared currency proposition achieve any of its intended goals? Probably not, but the fact that we have the presidents and finance ministers of these countries discussing it publicly (as opposed to random technocrats) means it’s something we need to take a look at. João explains the origin of this shared currency idea, why it might have actually worked in the 1990s when both countries had similar monetary policies, the likely political motivations behind the proposal and what role crypto or digital currency could play here. While he’s bearish on the idea itself, he points out that it’s actually predicated on values that are congruent with those of the crypto ecosystem - namely, reduced independence on the US dollar, resilience against potential sanctions, etc.If you want to learn more you can take a look at this op-ed João wrote for CoinTelegraph. I really enjoyed this conversation with João and I hope you do as well. 🚨You can also listen to this episode on SpotifyIf you missed my inaugural YouTube episode about Brazil’s new crypto law with Karen Duque of Bitso Brasil and Julien Dutra of Mercado Bitcoin be sure to check that out below!Have a great day everyone!-AWSThanks for reading Brazil Crypto Report! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Olá pessoal! Welcome to Season 2 of the Brazil Crypto Report podcast, which is now officially live on YouTube! (can also listen on Spotify!)In this special episode I talk with two of the industry’s top lobbyists in Brazil: Karen Duque of Bitso and Julien Dutra of 2TM/Mercado Bitcoin. (P.S. subscribes/likes/shares of the video and channel are much appreciated!)Both are seasoned tech policy professionals in Brasília. Karen previously worked on Brazil policy issues at Google and Didi, a ridesharing company. Before joining Mercado Bitcoin in January 2022, Julien led Brazil government affairs for Experian.Karen and Julien’s expertise was critical in the successful effort to pass crypto legislation in Brazil, which was signed into law by then-President Jair Bolsonaro in December 2022. Once fully implemented, this new law will create a regulatory framework and licensing regime for crypto businesses in the country and should establish Brazil as a world leader in crypto regulation.In this joint interview, Karen and Julien give us a behind the scenes look at the law itself, the drama and theatrics surrounding its passage and the next steps in implementing the law in 2023. Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.You can follow both Karen and Julien on Linkedin, and I encourage you to check out the Bitso Brasil blog for more commentary on the Brazil crypto regulatory landscape.Thanks for reading Brazil Crypto Report! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Ola pessoal! Axel Blikstad is a founding partner of BLP Crypto, Brazil’s oldest crypto fund manager. He is also a two decade veteran of traditional finance with stints at Santander, Banco Garantia and Banco Pactual. In this episode we discuss the ramifications of the FTX collapse on the Brazil crypto ecosystem and how he was able to liquidate his FTT position before the collapse. I really enjoyed this conversation with Axel and I hope you find it informative. You can follow Axel on Linkedin and Twitter. Can also listen on Spotify here!Have a great day everyone,-AWS Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Ola pessoal! The collapse of FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried continue to send shockwaves across crypto markets and, sadly, it seems that there will be more bad news coming before things turn aroundIn this episode I am joined by Andre Franco to discuss the ramifications of these events for Brazil’s emerging crypto ecosystem. Andre is the head of research at Mercado Bitcoin and host of the Francamente Crypto podcast, which is one of my favorite Portuguese language crypto resources.In our conversation we explore:* the impacts of this crisis on both retail and institutional crypto investors in Brazil * what it will take for the investing public regain trust in the industry * how exchanges targeting retail in Brazil need to adapt* how the conversation around crypto regulation in Brazil changes, particularly as it relates to the question of asset segregation* ramifications broader crypto market, including decentralized finance as a potential solution to the centralized exchange modelI really enjoyed this conversation with Andre and I hope you find it informative. You can follow Andre’s content via his Linktree. Can also listen on Spotify here!Have a great day everyone,-AWS Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Ola Pessoal!Regulatory clarity around digital asset taxonomy and treatment, particularly the question of when a token is and is not a security, has been the Holy Grail of crypto for years now. Therefore, it’s a big deal any time a securities regulator issues any sort of guidance or opinion on this question.I invited Isac Costa back to the podcast to discuss the crypto asset guidance issued last week by the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM).Isac is a technologist, lawyer, professor and a frequently-cited commenter on questions of crypto regulation in Brazil. He is also a former CVM staffer and advisor so has a great understanding of how things work inside the agency. In this episode we discuss: * the core tenets of the guidance - what it does and does not clarify* why the CVM chose to release this opinion now * the differences between the CVM and the US SEC with regards to how enforcement cases are raised* how guidance leaves the door open for “utility” or “network” tokens that don’t promise any specific rights to equity or cash flow but rather participatory rights in a decentralized network* what the opinion means for the “fixed-income” tokens being issued by the likes of Mercado Bitcoin and others* the outlook for crypto legislation being approved by the Brazilian Congress this yearFor more CVM guidance analysis I also recommend taking a look at my newsletter from this last weekend. If you find this conversation useful, I highly recommend listening to my original podcast with Isac from July where we dive deep into the crypto legislation that is working its way through the Brazilian Congress. Can also listen on Spotify here! Have a great day everyone,-AWS Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Boa tarde pessoal! In this episode, recorded at the Blockchain Rio Festival, I talk to Marcello Mari - CEO of SingularityDAO.SingularityDAO is a noncustodial onchain asset management platform that incorporates artificial intelligence tools for decentralized finance. We discuss how SingularityDAO built off of the success of early-generation projects like SingularityNet and how Brazil has become to SingularityDAO’s most vibrant community. The project’s native token has surged to become the tenth most popular coin in Brazil, per CoinGecko. We also geek out a bit chatting about artificial intelligence and synthetic media, and we speculate about when we will reach the Singularity (the moment when machines become smarter than humans). I really enjoyed this conversation with Marcello and I hope you do as well. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend!-AWS P.S. You can also catch this episode on Spotify here Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Boa noite pessoal!I had the chance to sit down with Nodle co-founder Garrett Kinsman at Blockchain Rio last month to discuss his smartphone powered network and why he sees Brazil as a key market. Nodle is a decentralized network powered by millions of smartphones built to power the Internet of Things. Nodle's "connect-to-earn" platform allows users to earn NODL tokens simply by downloading and running the Nodle app on a smartphone. It’s probably the most user-friendly crypto app I’ve ever used in my life so highly recommend checking it out. In this episode we discuss:* How Nodle, which is software-based, fundamentally differs from hardware-based services like Helium * The types of applications that can be created on top of a decentralized network of smartphone nodes* Why existing Web2 infrastructure isn’t cut out for building the types of Web3 applications that Kinsman and Nodle envision* Why Brazil is a critical market for Nodle and why the team is looking to onboard one million Brazilian users by this time next year* Why Nodle chose to build on a Polkadot parachain rather than Stellar, Ethereum or other alternativesLearn more about Nodle at www.nodle.com, follow @NodleNetwork and @NodleBR on Twitter, and download the Nodle Cash app in Google Play or the App StoreThanks for listening and have a great day,-AWS Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Ola pessoal!This week I’m trying out a new podcast format in which I bring on a guest to discuss and analyze the biggest crypto news developments in the region. This will be an ongoing experiment as I attempt to cover more crypto news across the Latam beyond Brazil.This week, my guest is Andres Engler, who is the Latin America Editor at CoinDesk and is based in Argentina. In this week’s episode we talk through the following news events and articles from the last 1-2 weeks:* Crypto Loans Are Booming in Latin America Amid Runaway Bank Rates and Inflation (CoinDesk)* The 500 Most Influential People in Latin America (Bloomberg Linea)* Brazil’s Securities Regulator Probes Crypto Exchange Mercado Bitcoin on Token Issuance (CoinDesk)* Crypto Exchange Bybit Halts Derivatives Trading in Brazil After Exchange Commission Ban (CoinDesk)* Strike CEO: El Salvador’s Bitcoin Experience ‘Doesn’t Hurt My Company at All’ (CoinDesk)* Crypto Exchange Huobi Global Enables Cryptocurrency Purchases With Fiat in Latin America (CoinDesk)* Bitcoin Miner Bitfarms Starts Production in Argentina, Increases Hashrate to 4.1 EH/s (CoinDesk) * Paraguay’s President Vetoes Bill That Would Regulate Crypto Mining and Trading (CoinDesk)* Digital Wallet Provider MetaMask Allows Crypto Purchases With Brazilian Reals (CoinDesk)* El Salvador Buys Back $565M Worth of Bonds, Plans to Launch New Offering in 8 Weeks (CoinDesk)* Brazilian Federal Police Raids 6 Crypto Exchanges in Money Laundering Investigation (CoinDesk)* Exchange espanhola Bit2Me demite funcionários e praticamente fecha sua operação no Brasil (InfoMoney)Thoughts on this format? Do you find it helpful? Want to see more (or less) content like this? -AWSThanks for reading Brazil Crypto Report! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Ola pessoal! For this latest episode I spoke with Bobby Ong, who is the COO and co-founder of CoinGecko. Based out of Malaysia, CoinGecko rivals CoinMarketCap for supremacy atop the world of crypto price and data platforms. CoinGecko’s position in the market gives Bobby an incredible bird’s eye view of emerging trends across the industry, and he lends us some of that expertise and insight during this interview. In this episode we talk about how CoinGecko grew from a side hustle project run out of a bedroom into one of the most popular coin and exchange data websites in the world. We then dive into how meme coins and play-to-earn gaming tokens are becoming massive adoption onramps for emerging market economies like Brazil and Malaysia, and will continue to be as these products mature. We also talk about CoinGecko’s (relatively) new product that highlights trending cryptocurrencies by country. If you’re a subscriber, you may have seen me periodically link to its Brazil page - which is a super useful reference to know which coins users in Brazil are searching for most at any given time. I really enjoyed this conversation with Bobby and I hope you do as well. I also highly encourage you to check out CoinGecko’s price, portfolio tracking and educational features. It’s a great product that I literally use every single day. -AWS Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

🎧 Spotify Bom dia pessoal,Maxim Piessen is the chief technology officer at Credix, a decentralized credit marketplace that is one of the most intriguing crypto startups to emerge out of Brazil recently and one of just a handful of companies out there that are connecting decentralized finance with real-world assets. Credix is a Solana-based marketplace that connects institutional investors with fintechs and non-bank loan originators in Latam markets, who are themselves providing loans to small businesses and local borrowers. Since launching in January, the platform now has 25 investors and 10 fintechs participating, 20 employees and more than US$25 million in total credit issued - with a goal of $100 million by the end of 2022.Since forming last November, the team recently raised R$50 million (US$11.25 million) in a Series A round announced earlier this month. The round was led by Motive Partners and ParaFi Capital, with Valor Capital, Fuse Capital, Circle Ventures and several others contributing. Please note: we recorded this episode before the round was formally announced. I highly encourage you to learn more about this project at credix.finance. I don’t normally say this about specifics projects, but what these guys have managed to build in less than a year is incredible and I’m super excited to see what they’re able to build now that they have a fresh funding round in the bag. I really enjoyed this conversation with Maxim and I hope you do as well.-AWS Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Hi everyone,Renata Rodrigues is global community and education lead at Paxful, which is one of the world's largest peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplaces. The platform recently hit 10 million users globally and is now making a push to bring financial education to users across Brazil and Latin America. Renata and I discuss how Paxful's platform operates, how it's providing financial opportunities to under-banked populations and how users are creating innovative new businesses using the platform.We also discuss Paxful’s new partnership with the Guetto Institute, a Rio de Janeiro-based non-profit that aims to foster entrepreneurship in the Black community. The objective here is to provide quality bitcoin education, and financial education by proxy, to underserved populations in Brazil who are grappling with the effects of inflation.I was very inspired by this conversation with Renata and by the work that Paxful is doing in Brazil and around the world, and I hope you are as well.Thanks for listening!-AWS Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Ola pessoal! Today’s episode is with Mila Rioja who is Latam lead at Celo Foundation. We dive into Celo’s mission of using “sacred economics” to create financial prosperity via a mobile-first blockchain and technology stack. We also talk about the state of Celo’s ecosystem in Brazil and Latam - most notably the cREAL stablecoin that was launched earlier this year and has gained significant adoption and liquidity in just six months. We also spend some time focusing on the different types of Celo grants programs available for founders and builders in the region, so make sure to check these out. I really enjoyed this conversation with Mila and I hope you do as well. Please note that you can also listen to this episode on Spotify.Best Regards, -AWSCheck out the following resources to learn more about CeloThe Mento ReserveCelo Connect the WorldCelo Community Fund Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Fala pessoal! In this episode I’m joined again by Conor Brady, head of Ethereum Brasil, who is the organizer for Ethereum São Paulo event happening September 9-11. 🎉Conor is also my first-ever repeat guest for this podcast so congratulations to him on that feat. We discuss the upcoming ETH SP event and how he’s using it to support the builder community in Brazil and keep driving momentum after a super successful Ethereum Rio conference last March. The market conditions may be different now and prices may be down, but there’s still a ton of energy in the Brazil market that Conor is trying to convene. Head over to ethereumbrasil.com to learn more. I enjoyed this conversation and I really appreciate what Conor and is team are doing to advance the Brazil Web3 community amid a tough market. You can also listen to this podcast on Spotify or Apple PodcastsI’m personally super excited to be there representing both the Filecoin/IPFS ecosystem as well as Brazil Crypto Report. I hope to see some of you there and meet some new faces. Feel free to hit me up at [email protected] or @AaronStanley on Telegram. I’ll also be speaking at Blockchain Rio September 1-4 and looking to meet some new folks and connect with old friends so feel free to ping me if you’ll be around. You can also use BRAZILCRYPTOREPORT to get 10% off on your ticket. Thanks for reading Brazil Crypto Report! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Fala pessoal! Guilherme Rebane is the head of Latam and Brazil at OSL, which is one of the world’s largest digital asset platforms and liquidity providers for institutions. He spent 20 years working in traditional finance as an equities, derivatives and FX trader, and now he leads business development and operations for OSL across the Latin America region. OSL provides liquidity services to many of the large crypto brokerages in the region, including exchanges, fintechs, banks and asset managers. In this episode, we discuss the rapid maturation of the Brazilian crypto market, why crypto was the predominant theme at the Expert XP conference in Sao Paulo earlier this month (one of the largest finance and investment events in the world) and how interest from institutions and professional investors in the region is growing. We also discuss Brazil Crypto Report’s new BCR Institutional vertical that will focus on creating crypto content and community relevant to the professional investor ecosystem in Brazil. Special thanks to OSL for being the launch partner of this new product 🙏I really enjoyed this conversation with Guilherme and I hope you do as well.-AWS🔥 I hope to see some of you at the Blockchain Rio festival that’s happening September 1-4 in Rio de Janeiro; you can use the code BRAZILCRYPTOREPORT to get 10% off on your ticket. 🎉 Also be sure to check out the Ethereum São Paulo event which is how happening Sept 9-11. You can go to ethereumbrasil.com to learn moreThanks for reading Brazil Crypto Report! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Fala pessoal! Crypto legislation has been the predominant theme of the Brazil crypto scene this year. This bill was expected to be approved by Congress and signed into law earlier this summer, but it stalled amid disagreements over key provisions like reporting timeframes and asset segregation rules. TLDR is that with upcoming elections, the outlook for this bill passing this year is murky at best. While the proposed law itself is quite straightforward (it would create a baseline regulatory framework for crypto companies operating in Brazil), there a lot of complexities, nuances and power dynamics involved. To help us better understand the current state of play, I invited Isac Costa to join the show. Isac is a computer scientist, a former regulator with the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) and a professor at Ibmec and Insper - two of Brazil's top business schools. He's also been keenly observing the development of legislation that would create a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and digital assets in Brazil. In this 90 minute conversation, Isac and I go deep into the details of this proposed legislation. We discuss:- history and background of crypto regulation in Brazil and previous attempts to legislate this matter- core objectives of this legislation and the various stakeholders involved in influencing its direction- tensions between local exchanges, overseas exchanges and tradfi institutions moving into crypto- the rulemaking process that will commence once legislation is signed - ie the fight will shift from the legislative to the regulatory front at the Central Bank and CVMIf you're closely tracking Brazil crypto legislative developments, I highly recommend following Isac on LinkedinPlease follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem🔥 I hope to see some of you at the Blockchain Rio festival that’s happening September 1-4 in Rio de Janeiro; you can use the code BRAZILCRYPTOREPORT to get 10% off on your ticket. 🎉 Also be sure to check out the Ethereum São Paulo event which is how happening Sept 9-11. You can go to ethereumbrasil.com to learn more Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Fala pessoal! I’m super excited to attend and speak at the Blockchain Rio festival which runs September 1-4! So to get a sneak preview of what’s in store at the event, I invited Blockchain Rio chief marketing officer Tatiana Sampaio onto the show to chat about what’s in store for what’s being billed as Latin America's largest blockchain event. We discuss the content themes and structure, the side events and the involvement of the Rio government, local economic development agencies and the Brazilian Central Bank.I enjoyed this conversation and I hope to see many of you at Blockchain Rio in September!- AWSThanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Fala pessoal!This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Brazilian UFC fighters Matheus Nicolau and Luana Pinheiro, who’ve taken the bold step of accepting a portion of their salary in bitcoin via a partnership with Bitwage. Matheus holds an 18-3-1 record and is currently ranked 7th worldwide in the UFC flyweight division. Luana is 10-1 in UFC competition and is ranked 18th in the women’s strawweight division. In this episode, we dive into:* how the couple first became interested in bitcoin and crypto* what motivated them to begin taking a portion of their salary in bitcoin* why they aren’t concerned about the current market conditions and volatility (TLDR: long time preference)* what type of message they are communicating to their fans and followers by embracing bitcoin* the importance of high-earning athletes to invest and diversify while they still have income earning potentialThis is also my first-ever Portuguese language podcast interview so I hope you enjoy my gringo accent 😂- AWSThanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

You can listen to this episode on Spotify hereFala pessoal! In today’s conversation I am joined by Sabrina Tachdjian who looks after payments and fintech at HBAR Foundation. We discuss how the HBAR Foundation’s grant programs operate, what types of projects and teams she is keen to support, what a successful applicant looks like and a touch on a few success stories of grantees who are doing exciting work in the region and around the world. 🙏 I am super grateful to HBAR Foundation for supporting 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report. They’ve been a great organization to work with. If you have a project or an idea in the realm of DeFi, NFTs, sustainability or enterprise adoption, I highly encourage you to check out their grant program👊I really enjoyed this conversation with Sabrina and I hope you do as well.Tchau tchau,-AWS Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Fala pessoal!Brazil is widely assumed to be an unfavorable geography to mine bitcoin because of taxes, energy costs and bureaucracy, even as neighboring countries Argentina and Paraguay have seen growing interest from international operators. But that dynamic could soon be changing due to various factors, including legislative proposals to exempt bitcoin mining hardware from import taxes and large amounts of energy produced domestically that goes unused. I sat down with Arthur Mining CEO Ray Nasser to discuss why he’s optimistic about bitcoin mining in Brazil, particularly if import tax relief is granted for mining rigs.Please note that when we recorded this conversation, the mining exemption - despite some contention - was still included in the text of the crypto bill being considered in the Brazilian Congress. However, Deputy Expedito Netto - the rapporteur for the bill - did not include the text in a new version of the bill presented before the Chamber of Deputies earlier this week. (It was just one of a number of other measures that were stripped out, including asset segregation and the requirement that crypto brokers operating in the country are registered with CNPJ numbers at the time of the bill’s signing.)Thus, the fate of this particular mining provision is uncertain. However, the fact that a provision like this is being seriously considered this late in the legislative process testifies that 1) idea has merit and 2) it has powerful forces pushing for its enactment. These are reasons to be believe this is a step in the right direction. I really enjoyed this conversation with Ray and I hope you learn as much from it as I did. Tchau tchau,-AWS You can also listen to this episode on Spotify here! 🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! 👊 Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Fala pessoal!João Zecchin is a co-founder of Fuse Capital, an early-stage investment firm based in Rio de Janeiro. We discuss how the Brazilian venture community is approaching crypto, how Fuse is looking to quickly deploy capital in the "Web 2.5" space with its forthcoming crypto fund, and how institutional investors in Brazil and North America are approaching crypto differently. This conversation was a great overview examining how the Brazilian venture ecosystem has matured in recent years, yet how raw it still is as it pertains to crypto. It also illuminated the level of opportunity that exists in this market for those with eyes to see and ears to hear, and I admire what João’s vision and forward-thinking here. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Tchau tchau,- AWS🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! 👊 Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

You can also listen to the Brazil Crypto Report podcast on Spotify! Fala pessoal!Crypto yield products are in the middle of a maelstrom amid the ongoing woes of Celsius, Voyager, BlockFi and other “CeFi” platforms that promised attractive returns to draw in customer deposits, but have now found themselves (and customer funds) in dire straits. As CeFi bankruptcy and insolvency rumors continue to rifle across the industry, the case to avoid any type of centralized yield product seems as strong as ever. But perhaps the problem here isn’t the yields themselves, but rather the opaque methods by which the yields are being generated and lack of transparency within the centralized entities offering them. I sat down with Kirill Gertman, CEO of DeFi API provider Conduit Financial, to discuss how crypto brokers in Latam can offer these products to their customers without exposing themselves to excessive risk. We also dive into what exchanges, brokers and fintechs looking to offer these products need to factor in when looking for a DeFi on-ramp. I approached this conversation with a degree of skepticism given current market conditions, but walked away feeling more confident that with proper risk management these products can offer real value to consumers in the Latam market, especially during uncertain economic times. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I didTchau tchau,-AWS 🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! 👊 Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Note: after this podcast was recorded, Binance announced Friday June 24 that BRL deposits and withdrawals would “soon resume” via a new partnership with payment firm Latam GatewayYou can also listen to this podcast on SpotifyHello everyone,Binance’s suspension of real deposits and withdrawals last week and the abrupt termination of Capitual, its local payment processor and fiat on/offramp, created a major stir in the Brazil crypto market.A week after reports of the situation began to surface, Binance customers in Brazil are still unable to deposit or withdraw using Pix or Ted - the two easiest and most popular payment methods. Binance has provided users with some alternative options. For context, Binance is by far the largest exchange by volume operating in the Brazilian market, though its “fast and loose” modus operandi has left many local players grumbling about its success. The circumstances around these events are rather complex and mysterious, and there is a lot of FUD circulating as users complain on social media and competing exchanges use this situation to pry users away from Binance.I invited Portal do Bitcoin reporter Saori Honorato to join the podcast to help us better understand the timeline of events, what we know and what we don’t know. Saori has been following this situation closely, so I appreciate her taking the time to help us make sense of it all. Important disclosure here that while Portal do Bitcoin is owned by the 2TM/Mercado Bitcoin conglomerate - which competes with Binance, the content of this conversation is strictly editorial in nature.Thanks for listening,-AWSPlease subscribe to 🇧🇷Brazil Crypto Report for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem 🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! 👊 Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Fala pessoal,Happy Friday! I had the opportunity to sit down with Bitso CEO Daniel Vogel at Consensus 2022 last week for an onsite Brazil Crypto Report podcast recording, where we discussed Bitso’s first full year of operation in the Brazilian market. (You can also listen to this on Spotify) I’ve been fan of Daniel for some time now, so it was a pleasure to finally chat 1:1. In particular, I appreciate his passion for finding value-added use cases and pathways to adoption for crypto that go beyond just price and “number go up” speculation and FOMO (or, more accurately, “number go down” given the current market conditions). That’s a rather heterodox position for a crypto exchange CEO to take IMO. We discuss what’s worked and what hasn’t worked for Bitso in Brazil thus far, how the market compares to other Latam countries like Mexico and Argentina where the company has had success, how impending regulation can help crypto’s image problems in Brazil, and what his Consensus 2022 experience was like. Brazil is a difficult place to do business even for locals, and much more so for foreign companies looking to enter the market and play by domestic rules. So I appreciate the effort he’s putting in to building out Bitso in this market (even relocating his family to São Paulo). Succeed or fail, you can’t fault Daniel for lack of effort. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.-AWSI appreciate Daniel and the Bitso team for braving the sweltering heat and making this podcast recording possible! 🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! 👊 Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

This podcast is also available on Spotify! Mauricio Magaldi is Global Strategy Director for crypto at 11:FS, a digital banking and financial services consultancy out of London. He's also the host of the BlockDrops and BlockTalks podcasts, plays drums for a heavy metal band, has two cats and advises several startups in the crypto space. We talk about his path from leading enterprise blockchain efforts for IBM in Latin America in 2017 to becoming a full-on crypto degen, podcast host and influencer in the Brazil crypto space. Mauricio also dives into his involvement in the upcoming Blockchain Rio conference, and shares his views on why the crypto legislation working through the Brazilian Congress may be harmful to innovation in the country if the needs of startups aren't taken into account. While the industry in Brazil has come out in full support (more or less) of the legislation, it has undoubtedly been more heavily influenced by big money players than the little guys. This dynamic is by no means unique to crypto in Brazil, but there could be very real consequences here that could make compliance costs unsustainable for entrepreneurs and bootstrapping startups. Note: this is a crossover episode! Mauricio and I record an episode in Portuguese so be sure to check that out on his channel! Link to BlockDrops podcast here Twitter: @blockdropspodLinkedin: @magaldiPlease follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report for more news, analysis and interviews looking at the Brazil crypto ecosystem🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! 👊 Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Hello everyone, Greetings from the World Economic Forum at Davos, where I’ve been running around like crazy the last few days. If you’re around please feel free to ping me on Telegram @AaronStanley and we’ll have a chat. I’m a bit delayed in putting out my weekly news recap, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy this week’s podcast with Conor Brady of Ethereum Brasil. You can also listen to this episode on Spotify.Até mais,-AWSConor Brady is the founder of Ethereum Brasil, which is devoted to supporting and growing the Web3 community in the country. We talk about how Conor came to live in Brazil and how he became a centerpiece of its crypto community, the wildly successful Ethereum Rio event and what's in the pipeline for Ethereum Brasil - including the upcoming ETH São Paulo event, which will be held August 18-19.I enjoyed this conversation with Conor (especially as a fellow gringo with an interest in the Brazil ecosystem) and I hope you do as well. He is doing incredible work to help bootstrap the Brazilian crypto and Web3 ecosystem, so I would encourage everyone to follow and support what he's doing with Ethereum Brasil.Website: https://www.ethereumbrasil.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ethereum_BrasilDiscord: https://discord.gg/vcu8snrpG8Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report for more news, analysis and interviews looking at the Brazil crypto ecosystem🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! 👊 Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Zé Paulo is president of the Crypto Jr junior enterprise in Brazil. There are currently more than 1000 junior enterprises in Brazil that connect university students with employers on short-term consulting and job placements. Crypto Jr is the largest such initiative in Brazil focusing on cryptocurrency and Web3 technologies. As hiring demand in crypto and Web3 reaches a fever pitch, a pipeline for companies new and old to source new talent in the Latam region is critical infrastructure. On the other side of the coin, students and digitally-native young people in the region are hungry to get into this fast-growing industry. Zé and I discuss how the Crypto Jr enterprise is bringing new talent into crypto and Web3 in Brazil, as well as how companies and protocols looking to expand their presence in Latam can go about sourcing and developing talent. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Até mais,-AWS🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! 👊 Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Kristin Majcher is Senior Correspondent for Latin America at The Block, which is a leading crypto news, research and data platform. We discuss Kristin’s first encounter with a crypto ad on a Buenos Aires subway in 2019 and how that metastasized into her becoming a full-time crypto reporter covering the region. Kristin talks about how she’s seeing unprecedented interest in the Brazil crypto market and how pending legislation figures to bring additional stability to the ecosystem. We touch on the unique challenges of covering Brazil vis-a-vis other Spanish-speaking Latin American countries like El Salvador, Argentina, Colombia and others. I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did. This conversation is also available on Spotify. -AWS🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for supporting 🇧🇷 Brazil Crypto Report! If you're a Latam entrepreneur or developer with an up-and-coming project or idea and need some support, take a look at the HBAR grant program. They're seeding projects focused on DeFi, fintech, NFTs, sustainability and so much more. They also offer a plethora of other resources to help builders bootstrap. Do yourself a favor and check them out! 👊 Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

🔥🔥🔥 Andrés Engler is Latin America Editor at CoinDesk, where he oversees all coverage of Brazil and the Latam region. We talk about Coinbase's decision to scrap its plans to acquire Mercado Bitcoin and the ramifications this will have on crypto mergers and acquisition activity in Brazil this year. We also chat about pending Brazil crypto legislation and developments in Andrés' home market of Argentina, Panama and elsewhere in Latam. I found this conversation to be very informative and am appreciative of the work that Andrés and the CoinDesk team are doing to cover the crypto economy in this region. Subscribe to the Brazil Crypto Report newsletter for more news and commentary on Latam's hottest market Andres' CoinDesk author page can be found here. You can follow Andrés on Twitter at @andresengler Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

bd Brazil crypto crew,Last week, I wrote about a new Cryptocurrency Gains by Country report by Chainalysis, a leading blockchain analytics and data company, that explored how crypto investors across different geographies gained in 2021. I was fortunate to host Kim Grauer, Director of Research at Chainalysis, on the Brazil Crypto Report podcast to discuss the methodologies involved in putting together this report and the key findings that pertain to Brazil and the broader Latam region. Chainalysis has some of the most sophisticated blockchain data analysis tools in the industry and are able to produce unparalleled insights into on-chain trends, so I hope you find this conversation as valuable as I did. While blockchain data isn’t perfect and can’t give us a fully accurate picture of what’s happening in a given geography, Chainalysis takes us as close as we can realistically get at this point in time. Chainalysis also produces an annual report looking at the Geography of Cryptocurrency. So if you enjoy this type of content, I would highly recommend taking a look. You catch the full episode in your browser via Substack, on Anchor or on Spotify.Tchau tchau,-AWS Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Bom dia everyone - For this week’s episode I had the privilege of sitting down with Fabrício Tota, head of new business at Mercado Bitcoin. As readers will surely know, MB is Brazil's first unicorn crypto exchange, one of the giants of the Latam market and the subject of a myriad of acquisition rumors. We discuss Mercado Bitcoin's explosive growth figures in 2020 and 2021, pending legislation that would regulate crypto exchanges in Brazil and the exchange's roadmap ahead. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.You can also listen on Spotify, Apple podcasts and Google Podcasts. Five star ratings are appreciated if you enjoy the content! Also, be sure to subscribe to 🇧🇷Brazil Crypto Report if you’re not already for more news and analysis of this critical market. Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

Hello frens - On this latest edition of the Brazil Crypto Report podcast, Renan Moraes Ramos of Deribit joins the show to discuss the growing use of crypto futures and options in Brazil and the rest of Latam. Deribit is by far the largest crypto options trading platform in the world by volume, so I enjoyed hearing from Renan how this segment of the market is evolving in Latam. We talk about Brazilian traders and financial institutions like hedge funds, prop trading entities, crypto exchanges and quantitative/HFT trading firms are increasingly using these products to generate alpha and hedge against risk. You can listen direct from your browser, or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Até mais,Aaron Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

I'm joined by Paulo Alves, crypto editor at InfoMoney, to discuss the blitzkrieg of crypto news coming out of Brazil over the last month. We discuss Rio de Janeiro's ambitions to transform itself into a crypto capital in the region and why that's proving to be more difficult than expected. We also go into CZ's recent charm offensive in Brazil and Binance's plans to formally enter the market, Coinbase's reported plans to acquire 2TM and Mercado Bitcoin and the state of crypto legislation in the Brazilian Congress. Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe

👋 bd frens, I’m excited to announce the first ever edition of the Brazil Crypto Report podcast 🎉In this inaugural edition I sit down with Antonio Neto, the head of Brazil and Latam at FTX. While FTX is seemingly taking over the entire world right now, it has played a quiet yet important role in Brazil over the last couple of years and will undoubtedly be a critical player for years to come. As FTX’s first employee in the Latam region, Antonio has had a front row seat to the exchange’s explosive growth. He joins us to share his thoughts on the current state of the Brazil crypto market and beyond.I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. As always, thank you for reading, listening to and supporting Brazil Crypto Report!Tchau tchau,-AaronThanks for reading Brazil Crypto Report! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Some highlights to listen for from this episode: * How Antonio got into bitcoin in 2012 and connected with FTX in 2020 (spoiler alert: Sam Bankman-Fried followed him on Twitter and then offered him a job) * What it’s been like to work inside a company like FTX that is experiencing hockey stick growth* The enormous need for financial education and literacy in Brazil and the opportunities that crypto offers for Brazilians who don’t have access to traditional investments. This combined with “get rich quick” mentalities has led to a preponderance of pyramid schemes that have created some negative perceptions for the industry locally. * The state of the exchange marketplace in Brazil, with local giants like Mercado Bitcoin jostling for new customers against overseas exchanges looking to get a piece of the pie* Why Brazil has been so overlooked by the broader Western and English-speaking crypto community* The current state of regulation in the country and how crypto businesses are responding* How the Brazilian crypto community has evolved and matured, particularly since 2017* What the Brazil needs to do to become a leader in the Latam region Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe