Key Takeaways
- Brazil’s crypto purchases surged 135% to $14.68 billion in H1 2026, driven largely by stablecoin demand.
- Argentine banking groups are using subsidiaries to build peso-pegged stablecoins for institutional clients.
- The IMF urged Brazil to tighten its crypto regulations to address growing cross-border stablecoin flows.
Stablecoins Eclipse Bitcoin in Brazil as Demand Hits $14.68B
According to an external sector statistics report released on Tuesday, the demand for cryptocurrency assets more than doubled in H1 2026, with purchase volumes reaching $14.68 billion. This represents a 135% increase compared to H1 2025, when Brazilians bought $6.24 billion in digital assets.
Although the central bank statistics are not perfect, as they only account for volumes transacted by registered virtual asset service providers (VASPs), they indicate adoption has accelerated, particularly in June, when $2.54 billion in crypto was purchased compared to $1.48 billion in June 2025.
In May 2026, Brazilians purchased nearly $2.632 billion in stablecoins, a 158% increase compared to May 2025.
Fernando Rocha, Head of the Bank’s Statistics Department, told Valor Economico that these numbers indicate consolidation in the national crypto market, which has already gone through its initial phase.
Argentina’s Banking Groups Are Quietly Building Peso Stablecoins for the Institutional Market
A recent report from Iproup stresses that two banking holding groups are developing stablecoins pegged to the Argentine peso, focusing on offering programmable money services to institutions.
BIND Group, a holding with over $2 billion in assets under management, which owns BIND Banco Industrial, would be developing a peso stablecoin through BEN, its in-house virtual asset service provider (VASP). The conglomerate also announced a partnership with Circle to provide institutional access to BEN customers, supporting payments and treasury use cases in compliance with local regulations.
Petersen Group, which also owns several regional banks, would be developing the second initiative through a subsidiary with the support of Lirium, a company providing crypto-as-a-service solutions for Banco Galicia and Brubank. This offering, named DIPE, has already matured and has its own whitepaper.
IMF Sounds the Alarm: Why Brazil’s Booming Crypto Market Needs Urgent Oversight
In its latest Financial System Stability Assessment report, published this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) highlighted the massive growth of crypto financial rails and called for the definition of a regulatory framework to increase oversight of them.
The report found that crypto-based cross-border flows have been steadily growing since 2017, outpacing traditional capital flows. Most of these flows are driven by stablecoins, which have become a favorite among companies and retail due to efficiency and tax-related advantages.
Stablecoin flows are largely dependent on international and national investment indexes, just like the S&P 500, VIX, and even bitcoin prices, suggesting that these are influenced by investor reactions to these fluctuations. National numbers, including exchange rate fluctuations, interest rates, policy uncertainty, and changes in tax policy, also affect demand.
While the IMF recognizes that the Central Bank of Brazil has taken action to regulate the virtual asset service provider (VASP) industry, it still lacks proper protections in several key fields, including legal protections for customers and segregation of assets held in custody.
