Latin America moved close to USD 1.5 trillion in on-chain volume between July 2022 and June 2025. Brazil accounts for USD 318.8 billion of it, Argentina USD 93.9 billion and Mexico USD 71.2 billion. Stablecoins dominate: over 90% of Brazilian volume and 61.8% of Argentine volume.
What you need to know
- The region moved close to USD 1.5 trillion on-chain over the three-year period. 1
- Brazil is the largest single market at USD 318.8 billion, up 109.9%. 1
- Argentina ranks fourth worldwide in ownership, at 18.9% of the population. 2
- In Argentina, 94% of peso-denominated volume goes into stablecoins. 3
How does on-chain volume compare across the region?
Brazil moved USD 318.8 billion between mid-2022 and mid-2025, a 109.9% increase over the prior period. Argentina follows at USD 93.9 billion and Mexico at USD 71.2 billion. Venezuela and Colombia are close to each other at USD 44.6 billion and USD 44.2 billion. Peru, Chile and Bolivia add USD 66.6 billion combined.
The distribution matters more than the total. Brazil is roughly three and a half times Argentina, and Argentina is not far ahead of Mexico. A regional plan built around one country's numbers will misprice the other two. The mid-sized markets are also the ones almost nobody staffs: the combined Peru, Chile and Bolivia figure is larger than Colombia's, spread across three countries that global companies rarely cover.
Why do stablecoins dominate the numbers?
Stablecoins carry over 90% of Brazilian on-chain volume and 61.8% of Argentine volume, against a global average near 44.7%. In Argentina specifically, 94% of peso-denominated trading volume converts into stablecoins. The regional stablecoin figure reached USD 324 billion, with active users growing 18% year over year.
The reason is the use case, not the technology. In markets with currency instability or expensive cross-border payments, a dollar-denominated token solves a problem people already had. That produces different behaviour from speculative markets: volume that persists through price cycles, because the demand is for the dollar, not for the trade.
For a company planning entry, this is the single most actionable number on the page. A product priced around trading activity is exposed to the cycle. A product built on stablecoin rails is serving a need that survives it.
Adoption by country
| Country | On-chain volume (Jul 22 – Jun 25) | Stablecoin share | Notable | Regulatory state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | USD 318.8B 1 | Over 90% 1 | Largest market in the region | Virtual assets law and travel rule in force |
| Argentina | USD 93.9B 1 | 61.8% 1 | 18.9% ownership, 4th worldwide 2 | PSAV registry (CNV RG 1058) |
| Mexico | USD 71.2B 1 | n/a | Remittance-driven demand | Fintech Law in force since 2018 |
| Venezuela | USD 44.6B 1 | n/a | Crypto used as currency, not investment | n/a |
| Colombia | USD 44.2B 1 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Peru + Chile + Bolivia | USD 66.6B combined 1 | n/a | Thinly covered by global companies | n/a |
Cells marked n/a mean we do not have a source for that figure. They are not zero, and we would rather leave a gap than publish a number we cannot attribute.
What these numbers do not tell you
On-chain volume measures value moved, not users, revenue or willingness to pay. A market can rank high on volume because a handful of institutions move size, and low on volume while having millions of small, engaged users. Argentina and Venezuela sit at opposite ends of that: similar order of magnitude in some metrics, completely different market structure underneath.
Volume also says nothing about who you can sell to. A market with deep retail adoption and no local institutional counterpart is a different commercial problem from one with a mature banking sector and shallow retail. Neither is visible in a volume table, and neither is the regulatory cost of serving it.
How to verify these figures yourself
Every number above traces to a named report you can open:
1. Chainalysis, Geography of Cryptocurrency Report. Published annually, covers value received by country and the retail-versus-institutional split. This is the source for all volume figures here. 2. a16z crypto, State of Crypto Report. Covers ownership as a share of population, which is the closest available proxy for adoption depth. 3. Artemis for stablecoin flow data, cited through a16z for the Argentine peso figure.
When you compare across sources, check the period. Chainalysis reports run July to June, not calendar years, so a figure quoted as "2025" from one source and "2024–25" from another may be the same number.
How to read this table before a budget meeting
The numbers above get pasted into expansion decks with one country highlighted. Three readings are more useful than the ranking.
Read the ratio, not the order. Brazil is roughly three and a half times Argentina and more than four times Mexico. A plan that treats the three as comparable line items is mispricing at least two of them, and a plan that only funds the largest one is ignoring more than half of the region's volume.
Read the stablecoin share as a product statement. Over 90% in Brazil and 61.8% in Argentina against a global average near 44.7% is not a detail about asset mix. It says what people are buying, and a company whose product is priced around trading activity is selling into a market that is mostly not trading.
Read the gaps as coverage, not as absence. Peru, Chile and Bolivia together moved USD 66.6 billion, more than Colombia, and almost no global company staffs them. That is a table entry with no stablecoin share and no regulatory column because we do not have a source for either. It is also the part of the region where a competitor is least likely to already be sitting.
The number that should never make it into a deck alone is the regional total. USD 1.5 trillion across twenty markets is a headline. Nobody sells into a headline.
The first slide always says one-point-five trillion and Latin America. The second slide should say which three countries, and why those three. If it cannot, the first slide is decoration.
Frequently asked questions
Which Latin American country has the most crypto activity?
Brazil, by a wide margin. It moved USD 318.8 billion on-chain between July 2022 and June 2025, roughly three and a half times Argentina's USD 93.9 billion, and more than four times Mexico. Over 90% of that Brazilian volume is stablecoins rather than volatile assets.
Why is Argentina's adoption rate so high relative to its size?
Argentina ranks fourth worldwide with 18.9% ownership because crypto solves a currency problem rather than offering a speculative one. Ninety-four percent of peso-denominated volume converts into stablecoins, which indicates savings and payments behaviour rather than trading, and that demand persists through price cycles.
Is stablecoin volume a better signal than total volume?
For most commercial decisions, yes. Stablecoin share indicates demand driven by savings, payments and remittances rather than speculation, which is more stable across market cycles. A region averaging well above the global stablecoin share is telling you the use case is utility, not trading.
How current are these figures?
The volume figures cover July 2022 to June 2025 and come from the Chainalysis Geography of Cryptocurrency Report; ownership comes from the a16z State of Crypto Report. This page carries a visible last-updated date because figures in this category move, and the periods do not line up between sources. Check the reporting window before comparing a number here against one you found elsewhere.
Why are some cells in the table empty?
Because we do not have a source for that figure. An empty cell is not a zero and it is not an estimate. Publishing a plausible number without a source is how a made-up figure ends up cited back at you a year later, so we leave the gap visible instead.
Which country should we enter first?
The table does not answer that, and anyone answering it from volume alone is guessing. Volume tells you the size of the flow, not who will buy from you, what serving them costs in compliance, or whether anyone is already there. Pair it with the regulatory picture per country and an honest read of what an entry structure costs.
Related guides
- Crypto regulation in Argentina: the PSAV registry explained
- Crypto regulation in Brazil: VASP licensing and the travel rule
- What a LATAM market entry actually costs
Sources
- Chainalysis, Geography of Cryptocurrency Report (Jul 2022 – Jun 2025)
- a16z crypto, State of Crypto Report, 2026
- Artemis, cited in a16z crypto, August 2026
- Go Markets, cited in Invezz, March 2026