Mexico-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitso has raised capital from a number of major investors including Ripple, Coinbase, and Jump Capital to help it expand into Latin America.
Bitso was the first crypto exchange in Mexico, operating since 2014, and claims to serve more than 750,000 customers, according to the investment announcement on Ripple's blog. While the full value of the investment was not disclosed, Asheesh Birla, Ripple’s senior vice president of product management, announced he was joining Bitso’s board.
The investors will be looking to take advantage of Bitso’s expansion into Latin America given the growth in remittance flows into the region. Indeed, in Mexico alone over $35.7 billion remittance transactions are completed every year. Birla commented:
Technologies like blockchain and digital assets could transform the remittance landscape by making it easier, quicker and cheaper to send money across borders. At Ripple, we are building new rails and working with our infrastructure partners to make this future a reality.
Developing Partnership
He added that Bitso played a vital role in providing payments liquidity that benefited Ripple’s operations in Mexico, particularly its on-demand liquidity (ODL) capabilities launched earlier this year.
Birla concluded: “As Ripple expands ODL in Latin America, so too will our partnership with Bitso.”
He added:
The company and team are well positioned to execute a global expansion to LatAm and we are excited to partner with them in this next phase of growth.
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