The importance of the Latin American market for the crypto industry continues to become more evident, as two new cryptocurrency exchanges make their way into Central America.
In Costa Rica, local crypto startup Obsidiam today launched what it describes as a new type of “hybrid” exchange, according to a report from local media outlet La Republica. At the same time, Japanese exchange BitPoint is expanding an already established presence in the region by opening its doors to Guatemalans.
BitPoint had been eyeing an expansion into Guatemala for some time, according to Spanish-language media site Guatemala.com, as executives visited the country and held several meetings with local banks to explain the advantages of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.
The meetings evidently yielded positive results, as BitPoint’s Latin America portal added support for Guatemala last week. BitPoint, which last July suffered a massive hack that saw the exchange lose $32 million in customer funds, is nevertheless optimistic about what its Latin American expansion means for its business and for the region.
“Now, 100 million people in Latin America can safely invest in Bitcoin and the world's leading cryptoassets through BitPoint,” Stefan Krautwald, a board member of BitPoint Latin America, said in a statement. “Our goal is that in the short term, anyone in the region can own cryptoassets as part of their investment portfolio."
Meanwhile, in Costa Rica, Obsidiam—a firm that primarily deals in crypto-related financial services—has launched a new crypto exchange that will enable its users to trade, remit, process payments, and do many more operations with cryptocurrencies than they would otherwise be able to do with traditional exchanges or financial services.
The firm is promoting its venture as a type of hybrid exchange—a “combination between a decentralized (P2P) exchange and a traditional exchange," according to its website, though it does not elaborate on what, exactly, that means for its users. The company did announce, however, that its exchange will initially support Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and XRP, promising to add more options in the future.
All in all, the options available to Latin American users to buy and sell cryptocurrency continue to multiply.