Tether, the company behind the issuance of usdt, the biggest dollar-pegged stablecoin in the cryptocurrency market, has announced its stablecoin will be available at more than 24,000 ATMs in Brazil. Smartpay, a cryptocurrency systems provider, integrated its technology stack with Tecban, an ATM provider in Brazil, to make this possible.
Tether and Smartpay to Bring USDT to the Masses in Brazil
Stablecoins have been of pivotal importance to some countries in Latam, due to their unique economic circumstances. Tether, the biggest stablecoin issuer, is now bringing USDT, its dollar-pegged stablecoin, to the masses in Brazil. The company announced that its token will be available at more than 24,000 ATMs on a national level thanks to the integration that Smartpay, a third-party crypto tech company, has developed with Tecban, an ATM provider. These ATMs will serve customers in 1,000 cities in Brazil.
Now, users of Smartpay services will be able to send and receive USDT using these widely available ATMs, and will also be able to trade their USDT for the Brazilian real, allowing users to save and spend using the system. Previously, the company had also integrated Pix, a Brazilian payment system, with USDT, allowing people to pay with USDT wherever PIX payments are available.
USDT as Financial Inclusion Instrument for Brazilians
For Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether, this expansion is important for including more Brazilians in the alternative financial system of cryptocurrency. A recent study made by Instituto Locomotiva found that, for January 2022, almost 34 million Brazilians still had no access to a bank account. This would be the consequence of the difficulties and inflation seen in a less-than-inclusive financial system, per Ardoino’s statements.
Ardoino declared:
Adding tether tokens to ATMs across Brazil provides the opportunity to include more people in the financial system. This will bring major changes not only to the payments industry but to the entire Brazilian financial ecosystem.
USDT is the token that moves the most volume in the country, according to the latest numbers from the Brazilian Tax Authority (RFB). In August the institution reported that more than $1.4 billion was moved using USDT across 79,836 operations, with an average amount of almost $18,000 per transaction.
Smartpay aims to have this system active by November 3, with the objective of incentivizing the usage of USDT at a national level, as declared by Rocelo Lopes, CEO of Smartpay.
What do you think about the inclusion of USDT services across 24,000 ATMs in Brazil? Tell us in the comments section below.
