Author: Ignacio Teson

Argentina remained the leading country in the region in terms of active users, quadrupling not only the Latin American average, but also the number of Argentine users recorded in 2021.

Although Bitcoin’s volatility marked the end of 2025, the broader crypto industry in Latin America — and in Argentina in particular — set new records. Over the past year, Latin America recorded crypto user growth that was three times higher than in the United States. The region also became the second fastest-growing region globally in crypto inflows, with a 60% increase compared to 2024, representing 10% of total global transaction volume.

These figures come from the report “State of the Industry in Latin America”, published by fintech Lemon Cash, based on proprietary data and information from Chainalysis. The report emphasizes that growth in the region “is not explained by volume alone.” In 2025, monthly active users grew three times faster than in the United States and increased by nearly 18% year over year.

This trend, according to the report, “does not depend solely on crypto market cycles.” While regional app downloads fell by 9%, the total number of people actively using crypto apps in Latin America grew by 18% in 2025, with sharp spikes in January, when Bitcoin reached new all-time highs and crypto began consolidating its role as a new layer for cross-border payments, particularly through systems like PIX.

Experts highlighted that three of the world’s top 20 crypto adoption countries are in the region: Brazil, Argentina, and Venezuela. However, they also stressed that Latin America is not a homogeneous block, and adoption patterns vary according to each country’s economic conditions.

In fact, while the term “crypto” itself lost visibility during the past year, one segment never stopped growing: stablecoins — not only as a savings tool, but increasingly as infrastructure for new and more efficient use cases.

Brazil’s surge, Peru’s rise, and three adoption models

One of the report’s major surprises was Brazil’s performance. The country tripled its received crypto volume and overtook Argentina, surpassing USD 318 billion:
“This represents nearly one-third of the region’s total volume and an annual growth rate close to 250%, driven mainly by institutional transactions.”

At the same time, Peru surpassed Chile in transaction volume, climbing one position compared to 2024 and reaching seventh place, with year-over-year growth above 20%. Notably, the number of Peruvian users on crypto apps also doubled.

“The development of the Peruvian market reflects the success of interoperability policies and the entry of international players that have sustained adoption in the country,” Lemon explained.

The report also identifies three distinct crypto adoption models in the region:

• Brazil and Mexico — where usage is driven primarily by institutional volume and market speculation. Regulatory frameworks have allowed large banks and institutions to offer crypto trading services, enabling new business models such as remittances.
• Argentina and Venezuela — where crypto assets are more closely linked to store-of-value and savings functions, driven by persistent currency devaluation.
• Countries such as Peru and Colombia — with more stable economies, where adoption is tied to accessing better financial solutions and achieving higher returns than those available through local currencies.