Minteo Launches Stablecoin-Based Settlement Layer for Latin America

BOGOTÁ, Colombia, April 10, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Minteo, the Latin American startup that raised a $4.3M USD investment from institutional investors in 2022 to build blockchain-based infrastructure across LATAM, has announced the release of COPM, the first stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Colombian peso and backed by audited financial reserves in regulated financial entities. There are already over 100,000 Colombians using COPM via Littio.

This is one of several economies where the company is launching, with plans for operations in Mexico, Chile, and Peru all underway; as the company builds a “settlement layer for LATAM” to enhance cross-border trade in the region and connect LATAM to other G7 currencies on-chain. 

Santiago Rodríguez, CEO and Co-Founder of Minteo, explains that to develop a more robust blockchain ecosystem with real-world use cases, local stablecoins are essential: “It’s almost impossible for the real economy to operate on highly volatile cryptocurrencies. Dollar-based stablecoins like USDC are useful as products for saving and investment, but in LATAM people and businesses use their local currency for day-to-day transactions. We believe that our stablecoins will enable local payments, remittances, RWA tokenization and advanced financial products to be built on-chain.”

Transparency is the key pillar behind stablecoin adoption and consumer trust, and this is something that Minteo is highly aware of and relishes. “COPM is a fully-reserved stablecoin via cash deposits in regulated banks. For each stablecoin in circulation, there is always a peso safeguarded in a bank that is supervised by the Colombian government agency responsible for overseeing financial regulation and market systems in the country,” explains Minteo’s CEO. Minteo also works with BDO, one of the world’s largest auditing firms, to provide monthly attestation reports. 

The team behind Minteo brings over a decade of experience building financial infrastructure and technology startups in Latin America. This includes founding companies like Vlipco, the company behind payments’ gateway Wompi, acquired by Bancolombia, and Easy Taxi, one of the largest cab-hailing apps, acquired by Cabify.

“Our team has significant experience building these new types of complex products, and we take the responsibility of building new technology in the financial services industry very seriously. We are building our stablecoins with all the best industry practices regarding security, compliance, risk management, and user experience,” added William Durán, Co-Founder at Minteo. 

Minteo’s stablecoins have benefits applicable to any industry and for any type of financial operation. In the fintech sector, it offers high transactional speed, and 24/7 availability: as it also works on weekends and holidays, surpassing the traditional limitations of banking institutions and mitigating currency risks. For e-commerce, it facilitates instant pay-outs, and allows instant swaps with other on-chain currencies. For remittances, it offers low transactional costs and nearly immediate availability, eliminating many third-party fees and brokers.

“I’m excited for what products people will build on top of our stablecoins. I can imagine there will be lending, cross-border, payments, and derivatives startups who will all benefit from having compliant and secure currencies on-chain,” added William.

Source: Minteo