Bitso, a cryptocurrency exchange with a focus on Latin America, is stepping into the compelling stablecoin market as global acceptance progresses.
The firm’s business development team, known as Bitso Business, has launched Juno, a subsidiary created to issue and oversee digital assets, including stablecoins. Recently, Bitso Business appointed Ben Reid as head of stablecoins to spearhead the company’s initiatives in this sector.
The inaugural token from Juno is a fully-backed Mexican peso stablecoin (MXNB), designed to enhance cross-border payments and financial interactions among businesses throughout the region. The token operates on the Ethereum layer-2 solution, Arbitrum.
Stablecoins, which have evolved into an almost $230 billion asset class, represent one of the most notable successes in cryptocurrency adoption. By pegging their value to external assets, primarily fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar, they provide a more affordable and quicker alternative to traditional payment methods, remittances, savings, and currency exchange. Their popularity is particularly pronounced in developing nations that have significant unbanked populations or unstable local currencies. In addition, worldwide regulations are being established or refined to integrate stablecoins into the global financial framework.
“Global companies encounter considerable financial hurdles when catering to customers in new markets and executing cross-border payments, including high intermediary costs and sluggish transaction speeds,” explained Reid in a statement. “Stablecoins offer a rapid, economical, and transparent fiat-pegged alternative and have played a crucial role in widening access to international markets and revolutionizing payments on a global scale.”
“Juno’s new MXNB stablecoin will aid global companies in conducting business in Latin America more efficiently,” he continued.
To promote the use of its stablecoin, Juno has launched the Juno Mint Platform, which offers APIs and tools for businesses to issue, redeem, and convert MXNB. This platform also facilitates fiat on- and off-ramps through Mexico’s SPEI banking system, as well as stablecoin-to-stablecoin exchanges.