Argentina’s Ripio Acquires Second-Largest Crypto Exchange in Brazil - Yahoo Finance

Argentina’s Ripio has acquired BitcoinTrade, the second-largest crypto exchange in Brazil, in a bid to increase its footprint across the frothy Latin American crypto market.

Ripio (formerly called BitPagos) ended 2020 on a high, crossing the 1 million user milestone. Earlier last year, the firm began looking in earnest for a good fit in Brazil and decided on BitcoinTrade, said Ripio CEO and co-founder Sebastian Serrano. The financial terms of the deal were not revealed.

“Brazil has always been a very important market for us,” Serrano said in an interview. “BitcoinTrade has a very good reputation in the market, very good processes and compliance. It also has a very meaningful user base – about 300,000 users in Brazil – and very good volumes on the exchange.”

Serrano also pointed to BitcoinTrade’s well-established banking relationships in Brazil, which includes accounts with Santander, Banco Itaú and Banco do Brasil.

Brazil has the largest GDP in Latin America and seems to be a highly desirable virgin territory among South American and Central American crypto exchanges. Last month, Mexico City-based crypto exchange Bitso raised a $62 million funding round, a chunk of which was earmarked for a Brazil push, the company said.