Latin American Crypto Company Ripio Launches U.S. Dollar-Pegged Stablecoin

Latin American crypto services provider Ripio has introduced a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar, in part to offer Argentinians a way of protecting their assets from inflation.

Ripio users in Argentina, where annual inflation is running at 115%, are already able to purchase the UXD stablecoin, also called Criptodólar, the company said Thursday. The stablecoin, which is also available in Brazil, is hosted on LaChain, a Latin America-focused layer 1 blockchain launched in June by Ripio in collaboration with SenseiNode, Num Finance, Cedalio and Buenbit, among others.

In June, Ripio CEO Sebastian Serrano told CoinDeskTV that despite the bearish crypto context, the use of stablecoins in Latin America is growing and becoming more common.

“In response to the complex economic situation facing Latin America, in particular Argentina, we have created Criptodólar: an innovative solution to help individuals combat inflation and protect their assets,” Serrano said in a statement, adding that the company plans to incorporate UXD to its Ripio Card.

Ripio was founded in Argentina and also now operates in Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, the U.S. and Spain, where it recently obtained approval to operate as a crypto exchange. The company has 8 million users and transacts $200 million a month.