Ripio CEO: Brazilian Firms Turn to Cryptocurrency to Pay Chinese Suppliers
Sebastian Serrano, the CEO of Ripio, a leading cryptocurrency exchange in Latin America, has revealed that Brazilian companies are increasingly utilizing cryptocurrency to settle payments with their Chinese suppliers. In an interview, Serrano highlighted the diverse ways in which countries in Latin America are embracing crypto, with Argentine companies, for instance, employing cryptocurrency as a safeguard against rampant inflation.
Serrano went on to emphasize that several unnamed Brazilian companies are now paying their Chinese suppliers using cryptocurrency. Moreover, he shed light on the use of cryptocurrency for remittance transactions between the United States and Mexico. Serrano believes that the future of cryptocurrency lies in its integration into capital markets, suggesting that in years to come, companies will finance themselves through cryptocurrencies, envisioning blockchain-based capital markets.
While Ripio currently derives a significant portion of its revenue from retail trading fees, Serrano intends to diversify the company’s income streams by introducing payment and tokenization products targeted at institutions. Additionally, he revealed plans to launch new savings and loan products for retail investors. Serrano anticipates that if institutional adoption of crypto becomes mainstream, it could contribute to as much as 80% of the company’s revenue by the end of the decade.
Since 2022, the Argentine exchange has been expanding its presence in key markets, including Colombia and the United States.