Stable Talks: Episode #06 – Bárbara Espir (Bitso)

In the final episode of Season 1 of Stable Talks, Caio Barbosa welcomes Bárbara Espir, Country Manager Brazil at Bitso, to explore how stablecoins are evolving from a speculative asset into real infrastructure for payments across Latin America.

Bárbara shares her journey from Stanford and PayPal to leading Bitso’s expansion in Brazil, and gives an insider perspective on launching local stablecoins like MXNB and BRL1. The episode dives deep into market-specific use cases, regulatory dynamics, and Bitso’s new initiatives to drive stablecoin adoption and public-private collaboration in the region.

🎧 Listen to the full episode below or read on for the main highlights of the conversation.

Highlights from the conversation

1. Local Markets, Local Use Cases

“Each Latin American market has unique drivers for stablecoin adoption — from inflation to remittances to regulatory clarity.”
— Bárbara Espir

• Brazil: B2B payments, import/export, cost-sensitive use cases

• Argentina: dollarization and salary preservation

• Colombia: OTC arbitrage opportunities

• Mexico: high-volume remittances, especially in the US-Mexico corridor

2. Issuing Local Stablecoins: MXNB and BRL1

“Our motivation with MXNB and BRL1 was to solve real local problems, not just launch another token.”
— Bárbara Espir

• Why Bitso built its own stablecoins

• Infrastructure vs. speculative asset: changing the narrative

• Collaboration with players like Foxbit and Kinetix in the BRL1 consortium

3. Stablecoins and CBDCs: Complementary Roles

“CBDCs like Drex are state infrastructure. Stablecoins fill other gaps — and both can coexist.”
— Bárbara Espir

• Differences in use cases and flexibility

• Why stablecoins enable broader adoption and innovation

• Bitso’s outlook on working with regulators, not against them

4. Driving the Ecosystem: The Push and the Stablecoin Conference

“We need more structured collaboration — that’s why we created The Push and are hosting the first Stablecoin Conference in LatAm.”
— Bárbara Espir

• The Push: acceleration for crypto and stablecoin builders

• The Stablecoin Conference: fostering dialogue between innovators and regulators

• Bitso’s vision of thought leadership in Latin America

Stablecoins: From Product to Infrastructure

This episode wraps up the first season of Stable Talks by showing how stablecoins are no longer just digital assets — they are the connective tissue for real-world finance in emerging markets. Bárbara’s perspective reinforces the need for local context, public-private synergy, and thoughtful regulation to scale adoption sustainably.

“Stablecoins let us rethink how value moves — fast, programmable, and without borders.”
— Bárbara Espir (Bitso)