New USDC stablecoin savings accounts hit Latin America

Latin Americans now have a new way to save their money with crypto and guard against the risk of inflation from local currencies.

Crypto lending startup Ledn today announced a partnership with lending and trading company Genesis to offer savings accounts in USDC stablecoins. UDSC is a stablecoin developed by leading US crypto exchange Coinbase and payments startup Circle that is pegged 1:1 to the US dollar.

The service provided by Ledn allows its users to receive the benefits of traditional banking options but without the hurdles of standard financial services—or the volatility of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

While the service won’t be exclusive to Latin America, Ledn is primarily targeting the area in order to provide the residents of the inflation-riddled region with a way to safeguard their money without the complex KYC requirements of traditional banking. Ledn and Genesis are essentially facilitating access to US dollars in countries where banks have no support for accounts in USD.

"Since our inception, over 50% of our clients have been based in Latin America,” Mauricio Di Bartolomeo, co-founder and CSO of Ledn told Decrypt. “We saw a material increase in new interest for our savings products coinciding with the steep drop in the value of LatAm local currencies (Argentina, down 33% in 60 days; Brazil and Mexico, down 20% in 60 days; Colombia down 10%),” he said.

Born and raised in Venezuela, Mauricio knows the economic situation of Latin America well. About 70% of the population across the region is unbanked or underbanked, yet, Internet access is rapidly increasing, leaving the banking sector ill-equipped to adapt to this new normal. 

As a result, the FinTech sector in Latin America has grown at a rapid pace. So offering a familiar service for Latinos, but at a faster, cheaper and less bureaucratic pace is a no-brainer.

"Everyone knows and understands US dollars in the region which is why our Ledn USDC Savings Account could not come at a better time," Bartolomeo said.

Ledn, however, is already looking beyond just Latin America. Said Bartolomeo: "While we know and understand the LatAm market well, we don't believe this problem will be limited to LatAm and will be quickly expanding the offering internationally."