The GENIUS Act established the first federal framework for stablecoin issuance in the U.S. in July 2025. In the year since, stablecoin transfer volume has reached roughly $4.5T in Q1 2026. Latin American countries are seeing that success and are working to establish regulations that will likely fuel more crypto adoption in traditional finance in the region. Notably:
- Brazil was among the first Latin American countries to adopt such regulations through its “Virtual Assets Law.”
- Bolivia reversed its decade-long crypto ban in June 2024.
- Argentina introduced mandatory exchange registration in 2025, and many more frameworks are being developed in these markets.
As adoption and regulation of stablecoins have pushed Latin America’s crypto market into more commercial use cases, 71% of Latin American institutions have already begun using stablecoins for cross-border payments, the highest regional adoption rate globally. Additionally, on-chain crypto volume in the region rose 60% year-over-year in 2025, driven largely by stablecoins.
While the drivers of adoption differ, the common effect is that in 2025, there was $324 billion in stablecoin transaction volume across LATAM, representing an 89% year-over-year surge. In Brazil, currently over 90% of all crypto flows are stablecoin-related, and over 60% in Argentina. Hotels, restaurants, and tourism businesses are also beginning to accept stablecoin payments directly from international visitors, saving both businesses and tourists millions previously lost to exchange rates and credit card fees.
Business-to-business (B2B) stablecoin volumes grew 30x globally in the past two years, and Latin American businesses, banks, and fintechs have been among the first to widely adopt stablecoins.
- Mizuho research reports that remittance fees via stablecoins in the US-Mexico corridor are now under 1%, a major improvement for consumers compared to the 5% to 7% average fees charged by traditional money transfer services.
- Across the $142 billion that U.S. individuals sent to Latin America in 2025, if conducted through low-cost stablecoin infrastructure, this could result in $6.1-8.9 billion in consumer savings.
As regulations become clearer and adoption continues to grow, stablecoins are likely to play an increasingly important role in payments, savings, and cross-border transfers throughout Latin America.