Bits and Borders

Gustavo Cunha is a Brazilian financial services veteran turned crypto enthusiast, podcaster and writer. In this episode we discuss the Brazilian Central Bank's efforts to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) called the Digital Real. We discuss: - the Digital Real pilot announced on March 6 - the Bank's decision to use Hyperledger Besu for the Digital Real's underlying infrastructure - th...

Portal do Bitcoin reporter Fernando Martines joins the podcast 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...

João Marco Braga da Cunha is a Brazilian economist and portfolio manager with Hashdex, Brazil's largest crypto asset manager. In this episode we discuss a proposal being propagated recently by Brazilian and Argentine leaders about creating a shared currency between the two countries as a way to stimulate trade and reduce dependence on the US dollar. The idea generated a lot of coverage within the...

Karen Duque is head of public policy at Bitso Brasil and previously worked on Brazil policy at Google and Didi, a rideshare company. Julien Dutra is head of government relations at 2TM/Mercado Bitcoin. Before joining in January 2022, he led Brazil government affairs for Experian.  Both are seasoned tech policy professionals in Brasília and were critical in the successful effort to pass crypto...

Axel Blikstad is a founding partner at BLP Crypto and a two-decade veteran of traditional finance with stints at BTG Pactual, Santander, Banco Garantia and ABN Amro. BLP Crypto is Brazil's oldest crypto fund manager, having launched its first fund in December 2017. In this episode we discuss the ramifications of the FTX collapse on the Brazil crypto ecosystem and how he was able to liquidate his F...

Andre Franco is the head of research at Mercado Bitcoin and the host of the Francamente Crypto podcast . In this episode we examine how the collapse of FTX impacts Brazil's emerging crypto scene. We look explore the ramifications for retail and institutional investors, prospects for regulation and what it will take to rebuild trust among users. We also explore what this means for the broader crypt...

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...

Marcello Mari is the CEO of SingularityDAO , which 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...

Garrett Kinsman is the co-founder of Nodle, 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. I caught up with Garrett at the Blockchain Rio Festival last month to discuss more about this exciting platform and why his t...

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 thro...

Bobby Ong 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. In this episode we talk about how CoinGecko grew from a side hustle project run from Bobby's bedroom into one of the most popular coin data websites in the world. We also dive into how meme coins and play-to-earn gaming tokens are...

Maxim Piessen is the chief technology 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 originator...

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. We discuss how Paxful's platform operates, how it's providing financial opportunities to under-banked populations...

Mila Rioja is Latam Lead at Celo Foundation. In this episode 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 s...

Conor Brady heads up Ethereum Brasil, which is supporting the Web3 community in Brazil. In this episode 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...

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. In this episode, we discuss the rapid maturation of the...

Isac Costa is a computer scientist, a former regulator with the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission 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. This legislation was expected to pass earlier this summer bu...

Tatiana Sampaio is chief marketing officer for the Blockchain Rio festival, which will take place in the Cidade Maravilhosa September 1-4. She gives us a sneak preview into what is 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 Cen...

Brazilian UFC fighters Matheus Nicolau and Luana Pinheiro have 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...

Sabrina Tachdjian is the director of 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 suppor...

Ray Nasser is CEO of Arthur Mining and has nearly a decade of experience in the bitcoin mining world and two decades' worth of experience in financial markets. In this episode we discuss why Brazil has historically not been an attractive destination for bitcoin miners and how that could soon change based on potential legislative changes and other dynamics. Among these includes growing interest in...

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. Please follow and subscribe t...

Kirill Gertman is the CEO of Conduit Financial, which provides DeFi on and off-ramps for crypto exchanges, fintechs and neobanks. We talk about the opportunities and risks afforded by crypto yield products in Brazil and Latam given the current market conditions. We also dive into how brokers can offer these products to their customers without exposing themselves to excessive risk.  Please fol...

Portal do Bitcoin reporter Saori Honorato join the podcast to discuss Binance’s move to suspend real deposits and withdrawals last week while abruptly terminating Capitual, its local payment processor and fiat on/offramp. Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem 🙏 Thanks to our partners at HBAR Foundation for...

Daniel Vogel is the CEO of Bitso, one of the largest exchanges and the first crypto unicorn company in Latin America. We discuss Bitso's first year of operation in the Brazilian market, how Brazil 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 his Consensus 2022 experience. Plea...