Stablecoins have been the talk of the town since the collapse of Terra’s UST. And even though Tether was – briefly – rocked by a wave of uncertainty, the company continues to project forward. It just announced the creation of a stablecoin based on the Mexican peso, dubbed MXNT. We take a look at this newcomer.
MXNT, a Tether stablecoin based on the Mexican peso (MXN)
Announced yesterday, this launch allows the company to expand its stablecoin offering. MXNT is backed by the Mexican peso, and it joins the other three assets offered by Tether. That is, USDT, which remains the most capitalized stablecoin currently at $73 billion, but also EURT for the euro and CNHT for the yuan, which are much smaller in size.
Tether’s MXNT will be offered on Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRX) and Polygon (MATIC). However, the release states that this is only an “initial” launch, and that other blockchains may follow.
Tether does not specify how exactly MXNT will be backed. As a reminder, the topic of assets backing USDT is at the heart of much debate in the crypto ecosystem.
A logical expansion in Latin America?
Since last year, Latin America is increasingly positioning itself as a cradle of adoption for cryptocurrencies. According to a study by Tripe A cited by Tether, 40% of businesses in Mexico would like to adopt blockchain and cryptocurrencies. In particular, international transfers are targeted.
Paolo Aordino, Tether’s CTO, also emphasizes this local footing:
“We have seen a boom in the use of cryptocurrencies in Latin America over the past year, which has made it apparent that we need to expand our offerings. The introduction of a peso-backed stablecoin will provide a store of value for participants in emerging markets, and Mexico in particular.”
Tether further confirms that MXNT will only be the first in a list of stablecoins tailored to the various fiat currencies in this region.
Latin America, a ground for the adoption of cryptocurrencies
It’s been several years since some major crypto companies started to take an interest in Latin America. As early as 2020, Binance was adding 5 local fiat currencies, and Visa announced last year that one in four Latin Americans wanted to make purchases in cryptocurrencies.
And the news has been rolling in ever since. Yesterday, major exchange Huobi announced the acquisition of Latin American platform Bitex. At Coinbase, talks were underway in March to buy 2TM, Brazil’s largest crypto company, but the negotiations did not come to fruition.
So the adoption of cryptocurrencies, so shunned by the major powers and Western regulators, is happening quite naturally in countries that may face high inflation or economic instability. Other geographical areas, such as Africa, have also shown the same trend.
