A representation of cryptocurrency is seen in front of Binance logo in this illustration taken, March 4, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
LIMA, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is seeing a surge in clients due to rising inflation and a historically strong dollar that has depressed emerging market currencies, an executive told Reuters on Wednesday, without disclosing numbers.
"Now that we are seeing inflation ramping up worldwide, we are seeing that more and more people are seeking cryptocurrency, like bitcoin, as a way to protect themselves from inflation," said Maximiliano Hinz, who heads Binance in Latin America, during an interview in Lima.
Hinz pointed to the example of Argentina, where annual inflation is at 90%. The country has grown into one of the company's top markets, he said, together with Brazil and Mexico.
Argentina saw citizens pour savings into bitcoin this year despite a crash in cryptocurrency prices. read more
While El Salvador has made headlines for adopting bitcoin as legal tender, Hinz said other Latin American nations have yet to pass meaningful cryptocurrency legislation, although he does not necessarily consider that a bad thing for the company.
"Regulation is a framework, but it's not always negative that something isn't regulated," he said. "If something isn't banned, then it's legal."
Under President Nayib Bukele, El Salvador has made a massive bet on bitcoin, making it legal tender and buying more than $100 million worth of the cryptocurrency, which have lost about 50% of their value amid a broader cryptocurrency selloff this year.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Meta Platforms Inc's chief of its virtual reality social platform Horizon, the main gateway for accessing the metaverse that the company is pouring billions of dollars into building, is leaving for a new opportunity, he told Reuters on Friday.
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology.
The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs.
The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals.
Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts.
Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved
Related Posts
