LatAm List – Chilean platforms have seen a spike in Bitcoin transactions due to the country’s current social crisis. According to La Tercera, while the traditional financial market has plummeted, some fintech sectors have benefitted from the turmoil unleashed by clashes and riots across the country in the past few weeks. Among these beneficiaries are investment and crowdfunding firms, as well as cryptocurrency platforms.
“After the explosive rise in the price of the dollar with respect to the Chilean peso on November 12th, we’ve had a 50% increase in transactional volume. The leading crypto coin of choice for the Chilean peso exchanges was Bitcoin followed by Ethereum,” said Rafael Meruane, CryptoMarket Partner.
Meruane adds that during the first weeks of October they experienced $100K of daily transactions, and by November 12th, that number had reached $150K. He also expects that this month there will be a 40% increase in clients.
Ramon Heredia, CEO of Digital Bank Latam, an organization that connects fintechs in the region, commented that due to the social unrest the financial market has been slower and more cautious. Some investment firms have seized this opportunity, especially those with a focus abroad that allows them to avoid local risks.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were affected the most by the crisis, and many recurred to crowdfunding.
“The country’s current situation has made the requirement of capital more pronounced for SMEs, which have strongly committed to carrying their businesses forward in a context where they’re facing a decrease in their sales. En Cumplo, we’ve seen, on one hand, a greater demand for capital, especially for labor costs,” said Oliver Vega, Country Manager for Cumplo Chile, a crowdfunding platform.
Read more on La Tercera.
