Bitso: What Are the Plans of the New Unicorn?

Bitso has become the first crypto unicorn in Latin America, previously reported MBN. Now, the Mexican platform seems to be looking to further expand its operations in the region. 

Bitso recently raised US$250 million in a Series C investment, bringing its valuation to US$2.2 billion. The company grew rather fast in recent years. “In 2014, in a good month, the number of bitcoin transactions on exchange platform Bitso amounted to MX$4 million. In 2017, MX$4 million represent[ed] a slow day,” wrote Daniel Vogel, Co-Founder and President of Bitso for MBN. By 2020, the platform processed more than US$1.2 billion in international payments and now it has over 95 percent of the crypto market share in Mexico, explains MBN.

The company is now strengthening its regional expansion plan, which has led the company to expand its operations in both Argentina and Brazil. “First, we are going to work very hard on our international expansion plan, today we are already operating in three markets which are Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, with much to do on in the last two,” said Vogel to Forbes Mexico. 

Vogel wants the company to pay more attention to Brazil, as it was the last country the company entered and the is still a lot to do. "We have been in Brazil for almost a week; we are taking our first steps. But I can tell you is that it is a different market, quite competitive due to the high number of participants that operate there," he explained to Forbes Mexico.

While Vogel has good expectations for the company’s regional expansion in Latin American, he sees challenges in Mexico as the new Fintech Law could be a barrier to the creation of new companies. “I believe there is a risk that the law will not be as permissive as it should be with smaller players, which could halt innovation in the country. Part of our proposal is that regulation should be proportional to the operational level of every company. When it comes to regulation, you have a clear trade off: the level of innovation you want to foster versus the level of risk you want these companies to take on,” he said to MBN in an article.