Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) will not hold much interest for the general public unless they provide full anonymity, the deputy governor of Mexico's central bank has argued. The executive’s remarks were published by the Bank for International Settlements on July 11. Javier Calafell, deputy governor of the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), delivered a speech on potential strengths and weaknesses of CBDC during an event held by the United States Federal Reserve Bank and the OMFIF Foundation on July 9. While outlining CBDCs’ advantages such as security of payments and cost effectiveness, Calafell believes that there are a number of …

Latin American social networking giant Taringa! has partnered with MakerDAO and e-wallet provider Airtm to launch a stablecoin-powered points system for its 27 million strong user base. According to an official Taringa! news release published on July 7, the development was revealed on Friday during the Blockchain Summit Latam in Mexico City. The pilot program, dubbed “Taringa! Pioneers,” will reportedly reward users with points for creating popular platform content, which can then be monetized by being converted into MakerDAO’s Ethereum blockchain-based stablecoin DAI. Taringa!’s news release places a strong accent on the program’s potential to offer users a secure and …

Latin America-based cryptocurrency startup Ripio has launched a trading platform, including an over the counter (OTC) desk, according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on May 16. Ripio’s newly launched platform will enable its customers in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico to trade cryptocurrency to fiat, use digital banking services, and request blockchain-based loans. The product also includes an OTC desk for institutional investors. Commenting on the product roll out, Ripio’s founder and CEO Sebastian Serrano said that “cryptocurrency, and our new platform in particular, offers brand-new investment horizons for all segments of the population. This is especially important in …

Blockchain-powered agricultural project GrainChain has partnered with the Mexican state of Tamaulipas to expand its grain tracking service in the country, Forbes reports May 2. According to the report, the Tamaulipas government is now using GrainChain’s software for tracking major grains such as sorghum, soybean and corn. Implementing GrainChain’s blockchain-enabled tracking tools is expected to bring more transparency in the grain supply chain by automating data records and providing more clarity to the way grain is traced from the field to the end marketplace. GrainChain's software can purportedly verify the authenticity of the grain and identify its source. Combined with …

Major American cryptocurrency exchange and wallet provider Coinbase has expanded its crypto-to-crypto trading to more countries, according to a blog post published on April 17. Coinbase and its professional trading platform Coinbase Pro have introduced crypto-to-crypto conversions and trading to 11 more countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia. The product is now also available to Argentina, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, India, Hong Kong, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Zealand. Coinbase customers in the aforementioned countries can now store, trade, send, and receive cryptocurrencies. The exchange suggests in the post that cryptocurrencies’ are moving from the current “investment …

A LocalBitcoins trader who sold Bitcoin (BTC) to more than 1,000 people in the United States will serve two years in federal jail, a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of California confirmed on April 8. Jacob Burrell Campos, a Mexican citizen, amassed more than $820,000 from Bitcoin sales on the P2P platform between 2015 and 2018. Through a combination of cash meetups, ATM transfers and MoneyGram, Burrell served traders on the site without performing anti-money laundering (AML) checks and due diligence on the source of the incoming USD funds, prosecutors said. In custody since …

Retail giant Overstock.com’s blockchain-based land registry subsidiary has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Mexico to develop a digital land records platform. The news was revealed in a press release published by Nasdaq on Feb. 4. Under the agreement, Medici Land Governance (MLG) and the municipality of Tulum in Quintana Roo will jointly develop a digital platform for collecting real property ownership data issuing certificates of title to land and related proceedings. At a later stage, the parties will purportedly develop a method of automatically securing and storing land administration transactions and updates. Víctor Mas Tah, mayor of the …

Harvard University and American clothing company Levi Strauss & Co announced a collaboration with the New America think tank to develop a blockchain factory safety system, Reuters reported on Jan. 24. The new system aims to eventually replace external factory health and safety auditors with a self-reporting infrastructure by the workers. Dr. Eileen McNeely, director of Harvard T.H. Chan’s Sustainability and Health Initiative for NetPositive Enterprise said, “For the last 25 years, work in supply chains has been monitored mainly by audits... A distributed system of inquiry on the blockchain that goes right to the source offers a new solution.” …

Major tech firm IBM has partnered with MineHub Technologies to deliver a blockchain solution that will improve supply chain management in the mining and metals industry. IBM announced the initiative in a press release published Jan. 16. MineHub is a company that uses technologies including blockchain to develop cost-saving applications for the metals and mining industry. The newly announced mining supply chain platform will be built on the cloud-based IBM Blockchain Platform powered by the Linux Foundation's Hyperledger Fabric. The solution targets the inefficiencies of the global mining and metal market — which is estimated at $1.8 trillion. These include …

The first blockchain association in Mexico has formed, its founding members including industry players like blockchain software firm ConsenSys, Forbes Mexico reported Nov. 28. The Blockchain Association of Mexico was established companies Bitso, Volabit, BIVA, GBM, Lvna Capital, ConsenSys and Exponent Capital. The organization’s objective is to educate citizens in the technology’s deployment and its potential applications. The association reportedly intends to develop standards and practices before the technology becomes mainstream. Felipe Vallejo, provisional president of the Blockchain Association said that "[blockchain] technology has the objective of creating more transparent, safe and efficient procedures." The association is purportedly open for …

All crypto exchanges and banks providing crypto services in Mexico will now be obliged to receive a permit from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico), according to a September 10 circular published in the official daily of the Mexican government, the Diario Oficial de la Federacion. The letter called "General provisions on operations related to electronic payment funds" states that Banxico is responsible for issuing crypto-related permits. To get one, a company dealing in digital currencies must provide a detailed business plan complete with a description of their operations, the commissions they plan to charge, and the mechanism they will use …

Cryptocurrencies — what are they? Money? Commodities? Securities? Utility tokens? Or something else? Few national governments seem to be in any kind of agreement on this question, and for now, at least, their divisions have given such currencies as Bitcoin and Ethereum a floating, indeterminate status on the global stage. As a result, cryptocurrencies lack a single, definite existence, with some nations treating them as money (e.g., Japan, Germany) and others treating them as an unregulated, speculative asset (e.g., Mexico, Denmark), making them the financial equivalent of Schrödinger's cat. However, as this review of classifications of crypto throughout the world …