Bits and Borders

Brazil's Central Bank shocked the market by removing blockchain from its signature Drex CBDC project and pivoting to a simpler vision. After driving Brazil's blockchain adoption for years, is this a rug pull or an opportunity for private sector leadership? Host Aaron Stanley is joined by Gustavo Cunha (Fintrender CEO, former banking executive) and Marcos Sarres (GoLedger CEO, Hyperledger specialis...

David Lawant and Josh Barkhordar are Head of Research and Head of Sales, respectively, at FalconX - one of crypto's largest institutional prime brokerages. We discuss the company's recent entrance into Brazil, principally via new partnerships with BTG Pactual and Mercado Bitcoin. We also talk about crypto market dynamics including the rise of digital asset treasury companies, pro-crypto re...

Alisia Painter is co-founder and COO at Botanix Labs, builder of the Botanix blockchain that serves as a Layer 2 on bitcoin. Botanix brings EVM compatibility and smart contract programmability to bitcoin, opening the door for new types of financial products and services on bitcoin. We discuss how Alisia's experiences working in Brazil introduced her to bitcoin and, more importantly, convinced...

Daren Guo is the co-founder of Reap, a Hong Kong-based stablecoin and payments infrastructure provider focused on emerging markets. We discuss how Daren's experience as an early Stripe employee helped him identify the pain points in the cross-border payments landscape, and how Latin America is now Reap's fastest-growing market. ---------------------- Brazil Crypto Report is presented by Av...

Tony Volpon is a former banking executive and deputy governor of the Central Bank of Brazil deputy governor turned crypto entrepreneur. He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss his red pill moment and how he went down the bitcoin rabbit hole, the role of bitcoin in Brazil from a macro perspective and also his efforts to tokenize Brazil's real estate market through his company CF Inovação - which...

Josh Solesbury is an investor at ParaFi Capital who has extensively researched the pain points of the SWIFT correspondent banking system and the potential of stablecoin technology to revolutionize global payments. He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss why cross-border payments cost 4-6% and take days to settle, how Latin America's unique market conditions make it the perfect testing ground, and w...

Thiago Rudiger, CEO of Tanssi Foundation, joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss the Tanssi network's unique approach to appchain infrastructure and and deployment Key Takeaways: - Infrastructure innovation : Tanssi addresses critical blockchain deployment barriers by reducing chain launch time from months to minutes while eliminating prohibitive upfront costs through a pay-as-you-go model - Prov...

Caio Barbosa is CEO and co-founder of Lumx, which is building B2B stablecoin payments infrastructure for Latin America. He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss the company's journey from NFT infrastructure to RWA tokenization to stablecoins, and how the B2B stablecoin space is generating real value for businesses in 2025. ____________________________________________________________ Brazil Crypt...

For today's episode Aaron talks to crypto tax lawyer Daniel de Paiva Gomes about the sweeping changes proposed by Brazil’s Ministry of Finance earlier this month. We explored the changes to the IOF financial transactions tax and the relevant implications, as well as the provisional measure released by the Ministry of Finance seeks to overhaul tax treatment of crypto assets in the country. You can...

Lucas Nuzzi is a Brazilian-born blockchain analytics expert and data scientist. In November 2022, his on-chain analytical sleuthing gave the world, for the first time, a complete picture of the fraud that had been occurring between FTX and Alameda Research - entities that were both controlled by Sam Bankman-Fried. Lucas and host Aaron Stanley go behind the scenes of his groundbreaking research tha...

Sebastian Serrano is the CEO of Ripio, which is one of Latin America's largest crypto platforms with 20 million plus users. We discuss the region's crypto evolution over his 12 years in the market. We dive into the growth of stablecoin usage across Latin America, with 80% of Ripio's volume coming from these assets. We also discuss new developments in Argentina, such as a tokenization sandbox and g...

This podcast, originally recorded as an X Space, dives into the Brazilian Central Bank's controversial proposed restrictions on stablecoin usage and custody. During this space we hear from executives from Binance, OKX, Bluegreen, ABToken, Solana Foundation, Nonco, Bitso and more to discuss how these proposed rules would impact crypto users in Brazil and the country's nascent digital asset...

Niklas Anzinger, CEO of Infinita City, discusses how new governance models can unlock technological innovation through regulatory flexibility. Operating within Prospera's special economic zone in Honduras, Infinita is building a biotech-focused district that demonstrates how competitive governance can foster development. Key takeaways: Regulatory flexibility allows businesses to select from proven...

Is tighter oversight cutting off illicit crypto flows? Or are the bad guys just getting smarter? In 2023, addresses linked to criminal activity sent $22.2B in cryptocurrency—down from $31.5B in 2022, a steeper 29.5% drop compared to the 14.9% fall in overall transactions. This session explores the impact of regulation and compliance in making crypto markets safer and thwarting money laundering at...

In this episode, host Aaron Stanley is joined by Tatiana Guazzelli of Pinheiro Neto Advogados and Marcos Rocha of Veirano Advogados to discuss updates to crypto regulation in Brazil. Key Takeaways: Brazil's Central Bank is finalizing crypto regulations with potential restrictions on self-hosted wallets and stablecoins, aiming to publish final rules by end of 2025 Companies must establish activ...

Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation, joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss the organization's expanding influence in Latin America. Gregaard discusses Cardano's partnerships with Brazilian powerhouses Petrobras and SERPRO, alongside significant developments in Argentina with UTN Buenos Aires. We also explore Cardano's unique approach to blockchain development - which feature...

In this panel from Merge Buenos Aires hosted by BCR's Aaron Stanley, industry leaders from Banco Santander, GK8 by Galaxy, Manteca, and BlockDaemon discuss the accelerating institutional adoption of digital assets and blockchain technology. - Coty de Monteverde , Global Blockchain CTO at Banco Santander - Kaushal Sheth , Head of US Sales at BlockDaemon - Federico Goldberg , CEO at Manteca - Ma...

Lucas Danicek is the founder of Nexa Finance and has over 15 years of experience managing portfolios for some of Brazil’s wealthiest individuals and families. Throughout that journey, he identified a critical pain point in traditional investment models: the lack of personalization and accessibility for alternative investments. Nexa Finance's solution uses blockchain and AI to create personaliz...

In this special episode from Merge Buenos Aires, Bruno Grossi, Head of Emerging Technologies and Digital Assets at Banco Inter, discusses how Brazil's first digital bank is leveraging blockchain technology and participating in the groundbreaking Drex CBDC project. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Binance is the largest platform for trading of digital assets. W...

Arnold Lee is the co-founder and CEO of Sphere Labs, which is one of the most exciting stablecoin infrastructure plays at the moment. We talk about how Sphere has found product market fit for cross-border stablecoin payments in emerging markets, with billions of dollars being transacted annually on its rails. You can connect with Arnold on Linkedin -------------------------------------------------...

Today's episode is a crossover with João Pedro Malar, host of Exame's Future of Money podcast - which is one of the leading crypto podcasts in Brazil In this Portuguese language discussion, João and I discuss my perspectives on the Brazil and Latam crypto market having covered it for three years via my Brazil Crypto Report newsletter and podcast. You can find the Future of Money version of...

Andre Portilho is Head of Digital Assets at BTG Pactual, Latin America's largest investment bank. He joins host Aaron Stanley to dissect crypto's wild 2025 ride, from bitcoin's both Trump-slowdown to Ethereum's identity crisis to Solana's memecoin stress test. While crypto markets recalibrate after Trump-era euphoria, Portilho reveals why Brazil is a global leader when it comes to integrating cryp...

Paula Pascual is CEO and founder of Merge Madrid and Merge Buenos Aires and a former banker at Santander. She joins host Aaron Stanley to share her vision for uniting Europe and Latin America through Web3 events and media. The Merge Buenos Aires conference will take place March 25-26 in the Argentine capital at a time when crypto adoption is escalating in the region. By bringing regulators, tradit...

Phase 1 of Brazil's ambitious Drex CBDC pilot is in the books. The project has proven successful thus far, but privacy and scalability challenges remain - prompting the Central Bank to conclude that a "major adaptation" is required for Drex to become a core piece of Brazil's financial infrastructure. In this episode, Marcos Viriato of Parfin, Leandro Pereira of Nuclea, Ricardo Pa...

Rachel Conlan is Global Chief Marketing Officer at Binance. She joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss the crypto's exchange's ambitions to reach one billion users worldwide. Rachel reveals how Latin America has become Binance's fastest-growing region, with 63% user growth last year, well outpacing their global average. She also explains how Brazil and Latam have become a testing ground for new crypt...