In the fourth episode of Season 2 of Stable Talks powered by Bitso Business, Caio Barbosa (Co-Founder & CEO at Lumx) and Julián Colombo (Senior Director, South America at Bitso) welcome Ben Reid, Head of Stablecoins at Bitso and GM of Juno, to discuss a topic gaining momentum across Latin America: the emergence of local-currency stablecoins.
The conversation explores why stablecoins denominated in pesos and reais are beginning to solve problems that USD stablecoins can’t, from market access to treasury efficiency, and how regulation will shape their future.
🎧 Listen to the full episode below or read on for the main highlights.
Highlights from the conversation
1. Why local stablecoins matter
“Mexicans live in pesos. They think in pesos. So giving them a digital peso just makes sense.”
— Ben Reid
Ben explains the core thesis behind MXNB: local currencies also benefit from being on-chain.
Unlike dollar stablecoins, they unlock native use cases that map to how people and companies already operate — especially when entering a new market.
2. Market access as the killer use case
“Digital assets remove friction that fiat rails create when companies try to serve local users.”
— Ben Reid
Many fintechs and exchanges want to serve Mexican or Brazilian users but get stuck on local licensing.
A local stablecoin allows them to:
onboard users in their native currency,
avoid forced FX into USD,
operate without holding local fiat in-country.
The result is a better user experience and faster market entry.
3. Emerging use cases: payroll, treasury, yield
“Companies want to be ready when employees start asking to be paid in local stablecoins.”
— Ben Reid
Ben shares early adoption trends:
payroll platforms preparing to support MXNB,
enterprises exploring real-denominated yield,
treasury teams wanting on-chain versions of the currency they already use.
4. Rethinking the stablecoin sandwich & on-chain FX
“If companies stop converting to fiat on arrival, the entire stablecoin model changes.”
— Ben Reid
Ben describes how MXNB and BRL1 could reduce FX friction by enabling issuer-to-issuer flows.
This opens the door to new payment models where the cost sits in the middle, not the edges, something only programmable money enables.
5. Regulation: Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador and the Genius Act
“Regulation is the unlock. Without clarity, none of this scales.”
— Ben Reid
The episode covers:
Brazil’s collaborative regulatory posture,
Mexico’s cautious approach,
El Salvador as a hub for stablecoin issuance,
and the Genius Act’s passporting mechanism, a potentially transformative clause that could standardize global frameworks.
6. Fragmentation vs. consolidation
“The temptation for every company to issue a stablecoin is real, but consolidation is inevitable.”
— Ben Reid
Ben explains why we won’t see thousands of local stablecoins.
Instead, a few strong issuers per currency will emerge, especially where there’s a real pain point, like BRL1’s role in improving market-making across Brazil’s fragmented exchange landscape.
Non-USD stablecoins: a new phase for Latam
This episode shows that local-currency stablecoins are not just a novelty, they’re becoming infrastructure.
They expand market access, reduce friction, unlock yield opportunities, and create more efficient payment flows.
“The world is going on-chain — and not only in dollars.”
— Ben Reid (Bitso / Juno)
Why do local-currency stablecoins like MXNB matter for companies entering Latin American markets?
Many fintechs and exchanges want to serve Mexican or Brazilian users but face barriers with local licensing and fiat infrastructure. A local stablecoin allows them to onboard users in their native currency, avoid forced FX into USD, and operate without holding local fiat in-country. The result is better user experience and faster market entry without the overhead of traditional banking partnerships.
What are the main use cases for non-USD stablecoins in enterprise operations?
Enterprise use cases include payroll processing in local currencies, market access for foreign companies entering Latin America, operational hedging against FX volatility, and treasury management in the currency where the business actually operates. These use cases go beyond trading and speculation — they address real operational needs that dollar stablecoins create friction around.
What is the 'stablecoins-as-a-service' model and what are its risks?
Stablecoins-as-a-service allows companies to issue or integrate stablecoin functionality without building the entire infrastructure from scratch. While this lowers barriers to entry and accelerates adoption, it introduces risks of fragmentation — too many stablecoins with insufficient liquidity, interoperability challenges, and potential regulatory gaps when the issuer and the service provider operate under different frameworks.
How does regulation in Brazil and Mexico influence the future of local-currency stablecoins?
Both countries are developing regulatory frameworks that directly impact stablecoin operations. Brazil's Central Bank is advancing rules through resolutions like BCB 521 and the DeCripto framework, while Mexico's fintech law provides a foundation for digital asset regulation. These frameworks determine whether local stablecoins can operate at institutional scale with banking partnerships, compliance infrastructure, and legal certainty.
