Ripio CEO: Brazilian Companies Are Paying Chinese Suppliers With Cryptocurrency

Sebastian Serrano, CEO of Ripio, one of the largest exchanges in Latam, stated that Brazilian companies were already harnessing cryptocurrency to pay their Chinese suppliers. In an interview, Serrano asserted that Latam countries harnessed crypto in different ways and that Argentine companies are using cryptocurrency to protect from crippling inflation numbers.

Ripio CEO Sebastian Serrano: Chinese Companies Are Receiving Crypto Payments From Brazilian Counterparts

Sebastian Serrano, CEO of Ripio, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Latin America, affirmed that crypto is already being harnessed by companies in Brazil and China as part of their regular payment flow. Serrano offered insight into the use cases that institutions are displaying for crypto services in Latam and stated that several Brazilian unnamed companies were paying for supplies coming from China using cryptocurrency.

In the same way, Serrano disclosed that some Argentine companies were using cryptocurrency as a hedge against the crippling inflation that the country is facing. Also, Serrano highlighted the use case of cryptocurrency for remittance transactions between the U.S. and Mexico.

Serrano told Valor Economico that he also believed that the future of cryptocurrency was linked to its use in capital markets. He stated:

In the coming years, we will see companies start to finance themselves with cryptocurrencies. The capital markets of the future will be based on blockchain.

The Argentine exchange has been growing since 2022 when it announced an expansion to key markets like Colombia and the U.S. While Serrano acknowledges that Ripio’s main income stream comes from retail trading fees, he expects to diversify this by introducing payment and tokenization products designed for institutions. Also, Serrano stated that Ripio plans to introduce new savings and loan products for retail investors to stabilize its income.

Serrano believes that corporate adoption might change crypto adoption and how exchanges perceive their revenue. He believes that if crypto goes mainstream for institutions, these might represent 80% of the revenue of the company by the end of this decade.