The Top 13 Latin American Crypto Exchange Startups

Written by: Patricio Ortiz

Contxto – Cryptocurrencies have been intermittently stalling through muddy waters since they lost almost 80 percent of total market capitalization in the 2017-2018 period. But for Latin Americans, things have been on a “crypto-high” so far in 2019.

As Crypto News recently described, “crypto-mania appears to be hitting top gear” throughout the region. From Altcoins to Stablecoins, to ICOs, STOs or DApps—conceptual evolutions and territorial expansion continue to glide upwards in the Latin American crypto ecosystem.

Perhaps on the down-low, cryptos have been spreading across Latin America without caring too much about things like the tough “bear market.” Regardless of throwing lawyers and institutions for a few curveballs, cryptocurrencies keep finding ways to enhance our lives. I’d say they’re here to stay.

Nonetheless, there have been prevalent issues involving governments adamant about regulating cryptocurrencies. These efforts have turned abusive in some cases. For example, authorities in Venezuela targeted crypto remittances with high inflation rights, bureaucratic procedures, and payment rules.

Latin America crypto frenzy

In recognition of these challenges, I’d still say that cryptocurrencies still have market longevity. Here are quick overviews of some—but not all—of Latin America’s prominent crypto exchanges available on the market. Together, they provide people with easy access to crypto coins, crypto payments, crypto trading platforms, and speedy methods to acquire virtual currencies.

Bitso

Country: Mexico

Among the top-rated cryptocurrency exchanges in Latin America is Bitso. The venture has seen considerable growth in both the number of users along with trading volumes in recent years. All in all, Bitso has proven to be Mexican’s first choice when it comes to getting crypto.

Co-founder Pablo González mentioned to El Economista that, “although the use of virtual assets is still not so common in Mexico, it is estimated that the market size reaches about 800,000 users who have already adopted these types of assets.”

Bitso is currently Mexico’s largest crypto-platform where investors can easily deposit and trade their Mexican Fiat (pesos) from a diversed portfolio. Other altcoins like the Basic Attention Token (BAT) and the True USD (TUSD) are also available.

DaexS

Country: Colombia

In collaboration with Blockchain Global, this Medellin-based crypto exchange offers a trading platform and payment gateway through Daex Pay. They guarantee users quick, easy, and secure access to users in Colombia and other Latin American countries.

Update (Jan. 21, 2020): Perhaps access was too easy to access, since recently DaexS was forced to close down temporarily due to excess traffic. Find out more here.

Volabit

Country: Mexico

Beginning in 2014, Volavit claims to be Mexico’s pioneering crypto group, with basically the same KYC and verification terms as practically every other player from this list.

Volabit offers a simple dashboard with market prices listed in Mexican pesos. At the moment, it offers four cryptocurrencies: BTC, LTC, BCH, XRP. Soon it expects to launch a more professional trading platform called VEXBI with more trade facilitation features and e-coin variety.

Panda Exchange

Country: Colombia

This creative and colorful Colombian platform offers ample access to different coins and trading services with deposits as well as withdrawals available. Unlike other competitors, Panda Exchange stands out for using the innovative PoS (point of sale) Xeller machine permitting customers to pay with cryptocurrency.

It was first deployed at La Tortata sweet shop in Bogota, Colombia.

Ripio

Country: Argentina

Previously known as Bitpagos until 2017, this Argentinian startup launched in mid-2014 with US$1.9 million’s worth of funding. According to company representative Juan Mendez, Ripio changed its name to distinguish itself from other contenders.

“The decision came as the startup’s mission shifted more toward consumer-facing services. BitPagos is a brand that was too linked to merchants and B2B (business to business) payment processing. Over the last year and a half, we’ve shifted most of our efforts towards users [and] consumers and we needed a brand that suits our mission best.”

Bitinka

Country: Peru

This Peruvian-based crypto exchange fulfills everything that a regular crypto-enthusiast could desire. Most likely, the enterprise feels super accomplished following astonishing trading volumes over the last weeks.

Further, Bitinka announced an integration of its platform with cryptocurrency projects DAI (Stablecoin) and Maker, which is currently ranked at number 17 on the Coin Market Cap list. This probably explains the recent trade surge of investments on the platform.

Bitex

Country: Argentina

Best known for its Alto Viaje endorsement, this public transport company from Argentina made headlines for making cryptocurrencies a viable payment option. Like others, Bitex offers a simple platform allowing common people to access the most reputable crypto assets such as BTC and ETH.

“We believe that this type of projects are of great importance since they bring access to technology as disruptive as bitcoin to the common people, demonstrating the true value and the real application it has in everyday life”, said Bitex CMO Manuel Beaudroit to Latam Noticias.

Crypto Market

Country: Chile

Gaining momentum in Chile is CryptoMarket offering a user-friendly experience for clients. Users can intuitively navigate its simple dashboard to place orders or quickly transfer funds from one asset to another. In terms of portfolio, the company offers XLM and EOS currencies. Both of these monetary units are expected to rule the scene in the near future due to their high currency values.

Mercado Bitcoin

Country: Brazil

Cryptocurrencies are a hot topic in Brazil following Mercado Bitcoin’s judicial victory against a national bank. According to reports, Banco Sicoob deliberately closed user accounts and broke various laws in the process. Mercado Bitcoin offers a range of cryptos like BTC, LTC, BCH, and BTG, all of which can be quickly and safely accessed with Brazilian reales. Not long ago, another Brazilian crypto-startup called Bitcoin Max fought and also won a legal battle against Santander bank.

Bitcoin-to-You

Country: Brazil

Some say that Bitcoin-to-You Claims became Brazil’s first crypto exchange when it appeared on the market in 2010. Currently, it boasts a portfolio of 10 cryptos including BTC, LTC and other prominent “alt-coins” like ZCash and BNB (Binance coin). Both the Chicago Stock Exchange and JPMorgan Chase use the company’s platform, according to Bitcoin-to-You’s website.

Buda

Country: Chile

This Chilean company previously known as SurBTC has operations in Colombia, Argentina, and Peru. Since its 2015 founding, Buda’s mobile application has gained a lot of attention for its attractive interface allowing users to easily obtain funds in the local currency. The interactive Android/IOS application makes smartphone transactions a piece of cake.

Cryptofacil

Country: Uruguay

Easy access, friendly presentation, and simplicity—this site has it all. Cryptofacil entered the market’s radar after they partnered with the USA Bittrex exchange. Now, the firm wants to position itself as a leader in the Latin American and Caribbean cryptocurrency markets.

“We developed Cryptofacil to focus on basic customer requirements: a simple and easy to use cryptocurrency platform, with superior customer support, and value-added services in a safe and secure environment,” said Andres Szafran Cryptofacil founder.

Livecoin

Country: Belize

Lo and behold, this Belize-based crypto exchange site has the best GESR (General Exchange Security Rating) than any other from our list. Livecoin ranks just below Bitinka in terms of transactional volume. To boot, the company has a giant portfolio showcasing different crypto assets, not to mention a reliable platform available in hundreds of markets.

It also shouldn’t be surprising that a country like Belize is the ideal place to pursue financial ventures. With cryptos, it isn’t any different. Belize has really embraced this emerging industry, which has helped the country earn global recognition back in 2016.

We will prevail

Among other global regions, Latin American entrepreneurs are steadily making moves in the cryptocurrency market while enhancing their moneymaking capabilities. The use of this new technology in this part of the world has just begun. With that said, we can only imagine that more and more people will eventually become users.

Despite the setbacks, they continue impressing analysts from Fundstrat Global Advisors. The American financial advisory board believes cryptos actually have longterm potential. As expected, more crypto exchanges seem to be popping up every day, some of them even becoming the fastest profit-making unicorn in history.

Against all odds and mainstream media criticisms, cryptocurrencies still represent a new disruptive asset class. Ultimately, they are a promising financial resource for society with untapped potential. Since we couldn’t mention every single Latin American cryptocurrency on the list, at least we can show you all of the exchanges from ICO Rating:

• Alteum.io (MEX)
• SouthXchange (ARG)
• C-Patex (ARG)
• Trade by Trade (BEL)
• Fatbtc (BEL)
• Bits Blockchain (BRA)
• Negocie Coin (BRA)
• BitcoinTrade (BRA)
• Bleutrade (BRA)
• Brazilex (BRA)

Stay tuned.

-PO