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Did we overestimate Latin America’s interest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies? Even though the continent seems to need the technology the most, mainstream adoption feels so far away. The El Salvador experiment might change that, but it’s not a guarantee. And, so far, there are no major indicators that any other country is going to follow suit. Is it too early for this to happen? Are we being too eager?
In any case, outside of the political realm, grassroots adoption advances slowly and steadily. Today, we’re going to check on Colombia, Argentina, Cuba, and the new Bitcoin Beach.
Colombia: Binance Frozen Accounts, ATMs, And A Game
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More than 50 Colombian Binance accounts are frozen. Some people think that the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst) is responsible. Others think it’s the American DEA doing the investigations. Criptonoticias tried to contact both agencies and couldn’t get confirmation either way.
A Colombian lawyer thinks that Binance is not authorized to do that without a court order and that neither agency has jurisdiction on the matter. However, Binance did block the accounts. So far, without explanation. Wow.
- If we take El Salvador out, nowadays Colombia has the most ATMs on the continent. From the 50 available, “Bogota has 29, six are located in Medellin, three each in Bucaramanga and Pereira, and the rest are scattered around the country,” Decrypt informs.
- A videogame called “B Coins” won the Crea Digital contest from the Colombian Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies. The game aims to teach children how to invest in stocks and cryptocurrencies by simulating a stock Exchange. The government wants to boost financial and economic education for the youth. The app will be available in the Play Store in December. There will also be a Windows version.
BTC price chart for 10/26/2021 on BinanceUS | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Argentina: Mining, Futures, And ETFs
- Canadian Bitcoin mining company Bitfarms signed a deal with the Argentinian government. They’ll build a facility that’ll host “55,000 ASICS that would consume about 210 MW of electricity,” Decrypt informs. A deputy from the opposition party introduced a bill that asks for transparency and information about the project. In any case, the deal is already signed.
- The biggest futures market in Argentina, the Matba Rofex, presented to the National Securities Commission a project to create a futures and options contract on the Bitcoin Index. When that’s approved and running, they might go for an ETF, La Capital informs.
Cuba: Businesses Already Accepting Bitcoin Payments
- In the first edition of “Latin America, Tipping Point,” we informed you that Cuba was looking to regulate the use of cryptocurrencies in commercial transactions. Now, Morocotacoin provides a list of 17 businesses in La Habana that are already accepting them. Most of them are hotels and restaurants, and there’s even an ATM. Here’s a video of someone paying at a restaurant using Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.
Pagando con #LightningNetwork ⚡ en #Cuba 🇨🇺 pic.twitter.com/IFBSchuwyA
— Erich J. García Cruz ₿⚡ (@ErichGarciaCruz) October 18, 2021
Brazil: A New Bitcoin Beach Arises
- In the beach village of Jericoacoara, they’re “building a Bitcoin economy using Lightning Network.” Brazilian musician Motolese put a small seed capital to jump-start a new Bitcoin Beach, inspired but not affiliated with the original. Motolese is “training a team with people who live in the village, and they receive small amounts of Sats from his initial donation as an incentive to help other users install the wallet and to make their very first transaction.”
Running an experiment like the @BitcoinBeach but in Jericoacoara CE/Brazil. Using BlueWallet, with our own #Bitcoin and #Lightning Full Node, we're ready to become the second Bitcoin Beach in the world by helping the community to create a new Local Bitcoin Economy #bitcoinbeachbr
— Motolese 👽🖖 (@MotoleseOficial) October 3, 2021
This project seems like the beginning of something great and we at Bitcoinist will keep our eye on it so you don’t have to.
Let’s finish this with a Motolese video. The man clearly deserves it.
Featured Image: Bitcoin Beach Brazil from their Twitter | Charts by TradingView