Key facts:
Josh Goodbody, executive for Latin America, believes that regulation must be consistent with adoption.
They believe that Latinos need new solutions to face economic chaos and censorship.
What do Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela have in common? Well, if we analyze it in isolation, we have that Argentina is in a deep crisis, Brazil seems to begin to emerge from a long recession, while Mexico's economy weakens and Venezuela fails to come up with the formula to end a disastrous economy.
So, these Latin American countries they have in common a population that fights against inflation , which for the Binance exchange represents an opportunity for growth that has made the company aim to expand its wings in the region.
Last December Binance announced the launch of its new platform, identified as Latamex, through which offers the service of buying and selling cryptocurrencies using local fiat money in the Latin American market. This year the company appointed Josh Goodbody as Director of Growth and Institutional Businesses of Europe and Latin America.
To learn about the company's plans in Latin America, CriptoNoticias spoke with Goodbody, who joined the team behind the platform after serving as head of Europe and Latin America in Huobi, where he helped consolidate the Department of Global Institutional Businesses.
A little further, Goodbody served as a lawyer in the financial markets,working on regulatory reforms and building a new commercial infrastructure in banks like JP Morgan, State Street and Credit Suisse.
Caption: Goodbody will focus on the growth of innovative products tailored to retail and institutional users alike for Binance's European and Latin American markets. Source: Binance
And how did it jump from banks to the cryptocurrency ecosystem? Well, he says he was driven by the constant innovation offered by the sector. The industry offers the opportunity to stay close to the innovation ecosystem and centers of excellence.
The new executive explained that Binance recognizes that Latin America is a key region for business and institutional growth that the company has projected worldwide, but that in the region It will focus on countries such as Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, where citizens fight against inflation , and where there is already a level of understanding that cryptocurrencies, with their paradigm of decentralization and refuge of value, offer an alternative to face the economic chaos and censorship in which they have become submerged.
We understand that each country requires a different approach and requirements, but as cryptocurrency markets mature, Binance will expand its presence in the region to expand further. A large part of our mission is to connect with our local communities to understand what they want and expect.
Josh Goodbody, director of Growth and Institutional Business of Latin America at Binance.
When asked about the countries with the greatest future in the cryptocurrency industry in Latin America, he points out that although each one has its potential and can contribute to the sector in different ways, he does not doubt that Brazil has the largest market for its economy Leader.
Too Mexico and Colombia stand out for their current results, which allows them to be leaders in the cryptocurrency market and «for the performance that our partners are having there that allow us to offer fíat links».
Nor does it leave behind the Argentine market, which shows daily growth rates, and Paraguay for its potential as an emerging mining center.
Between adoption and regulation
Talking about promoting mass adoption in the cryptocurrency sector also means bringing up the regulation and talking about the actions of governments in cryptoactive markets, which do not have a global consensus in Latin America, although most of the countries do not have a regulatory framework defined.
Although it is clear that nothing guarantees that governments do not change their current mentality, Goodbody comments that expects the regulations that are manifested in the region to be consistent with the momentum that adoption is taking, and represent new opportunities for the industry.
Regulation is necessary and inevitable if we want to guarantee the growth of the industry. Countries may have different levels of clarity regarding regulation, because there are many questions that each of them are asking right now. But in general, larger countries tend to take longer to reach the clarity required by the regulatory framework, since they have more regulatory agencies, more projects, more cryptocurrencies to evaluate and more population to protect. Aware of this, at Binance we take regulatory compliance very seriously and commit ourselves to work with government agencies to ensure a sustainable market and increase public adoption.
Josh Goodbody, Director of Growth and Institutional Business of Latin America at Binance.
Aware that cryptocurrency transactions can help eliminate procedural bottlenecks that affect traditional banking and financial services, Goodbody comments:«We want to connect regions and decentralize the way citizens use money around the world, empowering the community ».
A little further it makes clear that the company is determined to set a standard for its products, which, he says, "will boost the growth of the ecosystem."
Local exchange houses do not offer all the features that we can offer, such as the exchange between different cryptocurrencies and advanced trading tools, such as Binance Futures, and auxiliary products such as Lending and Margin. We also provide an approach to the ecosystem with our decentralized exchange. In short, Binance products are powerful and can boost the growth of the ecosystem, based on user education through the company's academy.
Josh Goodbody, Director of Growth and Institutional Business of Latin America at Binance.
Add that Latin America is largely a growing market, full of opportunities. Each regional market, in its unique forms, is moving towards adoption and a better understanding of the inherent technological advantages of the cryptocurrency industry. "We want to open new fiduciary links and associations in all possible countries, to continue leading the market."
More ways to trade for Latinos
The importance of the Latin American market for the cryptocurrency industry is increasingly evident and therefore Binance is not the only platform that makes expansion plans in the region.
Bitso, for example, the Mexican exchange house, is in the middle of an expansion process in the continent, with Argentina as the first stop and Brazil on the waiting list. At the same time, the Japanese BitPoint exchange is expanding an already established presence in the region, by opening its doors to Guatemalans, according to guatemala.com.
BitPoint reported that through its platform, 100 million people in Latin America can safely invest in Bitcoin and the world's leading cryptocurrencies. While Bitso, among other plans, strengthens the sending of remittances from the United States to Mexico through two products, one that uses bitcoin and the other with XRP.
In general, the options available for Latin American users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies continue to multiply , because today there are many more platforms that seek to become "giants" in the ecosystem. Although now, the word "fierce" would be more appropriate to describe an atmosphere that includes so many competing businesses.
Fierce competition
When it comes to competition, it is no secret that Binance and BitMEX compete in an effort to dominate the scene. That became clear last September, when BitMEX quoted Binance in a tweet after it announced the launch of its bitcoin futures platform.
BitMEX is a company that can be as competitive as Binance. Among its potential, it has dominion over the bitcoin trade and manages the derivatives market. Although this area is not the responsibility of Binance, it remains in doubt if this company intends to enter this market.
BitMEX seems to track what is happening. He called Binance's attention to the launch of his futures platform. «Congratulations on the launch of Testnet Futures @binance. I am glad to see that you enjoyed reading our documentation as much as we enjoyed writing it! ”, He commented at the time, comparing his proposal with that of Binance.
Congrats on the Testnet Futures launches @binance. Glad to see you enjoyed reading our documentation as much as we enjoyed writing it! pic.twitter.com/lLzcLcX6t4— BitMEX (@BitMEXdotcom) September 4, 2019
It is increasingly clear that both companies are struggling in a silent battle, because wherever you step on one, the other is also thinking about addressing that terrain, and now that terrain is called Latin America.
However, what seems to be playing against both platforms are some difficulties that users have been manifesting, apparently due to the overload of operations. This situation generates expectations about how these companies will solve these types of situations, as they add more users in the future.
