The use cases for stablecoins vary widely depending on the region of the world. It was one of the conclusions of the Stablecoins and Settlement panel participants on the second day of Ethereum.Rio, held at the Museu do Amanhã in Rio de Janeiro.
“In Brazil, the BRZ, pegged to the real, is bringing an international finance perspective since the Brazilian real is not an international currency. With the BRZ, people can hold balances in reais on international exchanges, such as FTX, gaining access to the global cryptoasset market. In addition, foreigners can also keep balances in reais on Brazilian or foreign platforms”, said Thiago Cesar, CEO of Transfero.
Thiago emphasized that stablecoins in Brazil do not compete with the local banking system but benefit from it. “The Brazilian banking system is quite efficient, there have been instant transfer for a long time, and this context is perfect for Brazilians to access stablecoins and the crypto market in general”, he said.
Argentina and Venezuela have specific use cases for stablecoins
In other Latin American countries, the use cases for stablecoins are pretty different. For example, in Venezuela and Argentina, stablecoins are already part of people’s daily lives due to the monetary features of those countries, such as inflation and capital controls. “In Venezuela, there are already people receiving wages in stablecoins, especially in USDT, pegged to the dollar”, explains Luiz Lozada, Business Developer at Maker DAO.
On the other hand, in Europe, it is a different scenario. The euro is a very internationalized currency, and European citizens do not have major concerns about inflation. Therefore, the discussions about stablecoins are focused on CBDCs, an acronym for digital currencies issued by central banks. “People in Europe are getting ready not to use paper money anymore”, reported Agne Linge of the decentralized exchange Degate.
Agne also added that stablecoins are being used to access Yield Farming platforms for passive income.
Future use cases for stablecoins also differ
Future pathways that stablecoins are likely to take also vary depending on the region. One of them should be the use for the foreign trade market. “Today, this movement still depends on many intermediaries, increasing the transaction cost. Stablecoins may cause this disintermediation in the near future, making export and import operations more efficient”, assesses Thiago.
For Luiz Lozada of Maker DAO, people will be able to take out loans sub-collateralized in stablecoins to buy whatever they want soon. “I see this scenario happening especially in Venezuela and Argentina since cryptoassets are already part of the daily lives of citizens in these countries”, he pointed out.
Transfero was one of the sponsors of Ethereum.Rio
