An executive told Reuters on Wednesday that Binance, the world's largest criptocurrency exchange, is seeing a surge in clients due to rising inflation and a historically strong dollar that has depressed emerging market currencies.
Maximiliano Hinz, head of Binance in Latin America, said in an interview in Lima that more and more people are seeking cryptocurrencies, like bitcoins, as a way to protect themselves from inflation.
Hinz pointed out the example of Argentina, where annual inflation is at 90 %. He said that the country has grown into one of the company's top markets, along with Brazil and Mexico.
Argentina saw savings in digital currency this year despite a crash in criptocurrency prices.
Hinz said other Latin American nations have yet to pass meaningful legislation on cryptocurrencies, although he does not necessarily consider that a bad thing for the company, even though El Salvador has made headlines for adoptingbitcoin as legal tender.
He said that regulation is a framework, but it's not always negative that something isn't regulated. If something isn't banned, then it's legal. El Salvadoran has made a huge bet on the currency, making it legal tender and buying more than $100 million worth of the cryptocurrencies, which have lost 50% of their value due to a broader selloff this year, according to President Nayib Bukele.