BNB Chain, a blockchain network created by crypto exchange Binance, and Latin America-focused education platform Platzi announced that they will be launching a Web3 development course for the region. By the end of the year, the course aims to be accessible to 30,000 students. Gwendolyn Regina, investment director at BNB Chain, told Cointelegraph that this course focuses on growing the skills of developers. “This is going to be the major educational resource available in Spanish for Web2 developers to build on Web3 with BNB Chain.” This development is an effort to push wider adoption of blockchain technology and Web3 education …

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has donated 36 Bitcoin (BTC) and $600,000 worth of Tether (USDT) to small businesses in El Salvador as part of a broader pledge to support economic development in neighborhoods that have struggled with gang-related violence. The funds are being distributed in the socially-deprived communities of Ilopango, Soyapango and Apopa, where gang violence and extortion of small business owners are the most common, Bitfinex announced Thursday. The donations, which will be funded through recipients’ Bitcoin wallets, including the state-sponsored Chivo wallet, will support environmentally-friendly business initiatives that employ local workers. In addition to funding the donations, Bitfinex’s parent …

Argentina’s tax authority has seized more than 1,000 cryptocurrency wallets linked to delinquent taxpayers in the country. According to a report from local media outlet iProUP, courts across Argentina authorized the seizure of 1,269 cryptocurrency wallets belonging to citizens with outstanding debt to Argentina’s Federal Administration of Public Income (AFIP). AFIP signaled its intent to go after cryptocurrency wallets belonging to tax delinquents in May, ordering cryptocurrency exchanges and payment service providers to deliver monthly reports on users of their platforms. Crypto services were requested to verify the identity of clients and keep records of user accounts as well as …

Panama’s President Laurentino Cortizo has partially vetoed Bill No. 697, dubbed the “crypto bill,” saying it requires more work to better fit Panama’s financial regulations. President Cortizo previously warned in May he wouldn’t sign the bill unless it included additional Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules after Panama’s National Assembly passed the crypto bill in late April 2022. Local media outlet La Prenda obtained a copy of the 32-page veto, reporting the president wrote it’s “imperative” the cryptocurrency laws conform to new regulations recommended by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) outlining “fiscal transparency and prevention of money laundering.” President Cortizo has …

Bitcoin was created to give the average person a peer-to-peer economic system and a store of wealth asset that could provide financial autonomy and access to banking, especially for people living in places where financial services are sparse or non-existent. In the last five years, there have been a number of blockchain projects that aim to mirror Bitcoin's original mission and the growing popularity of stablecoins further highlights the need for alternative financial models. One project that is beginning to see a bit of momentum is Reserve Rights (RSR), a dual-token stablecoin platform comprised of the asset-backed Reserve Stablecoin (RSV) …

A survey from digital payment company Block Inc. has found that the higher respondents rated their own level of cryptocurrency knowledge, the more optimistic they are about the future of Bitcoin (BTC). Block surveyed more than 9,500 people from the Americas (2,375), EMEA (4,360) and APAC (2,860) regions in January, ensuring to include 100 Bitcoin owners in each region for its 2022 Bitcoin Knowledge and Perceptions Report. The report, released on Tuesday, shows a correlation between optimism and the likelihood of purchasing, and compared the result with the respondent’s self-identified level of knowledge. Of those who identified as having fair …

Panama’s path to crypto adoption is stepping up a gear. Towerbank, a Panamanian financial institution with over 200 employees and 40 years of banking experience, has declared itself Bitcoin-friendly, paving the way for crypto accounts. Gabriel Campa, vice president of product for Towerbank, told Cointelegraph that “We believe that as a bank, we have much to offer to this community,” asserting the group’s status as “crypto-friendly.” “We want to become part of the community and build a service platform together, to satisfy the opportunities arising from their current needs, pains, and priorities. Within the next 90 days, as we implement …

Since 2016, Argentina has been engaged in a war against inflation. Caused by multiple factors, like a lack of trust in the central bank or government overspending, the depreciation of the Argentinean peso has negatively impacted citizens' purchasing power. This has brought 37.3% of the population under the poverty line, and many others have had their savings vanish into thin air. Against this backdrop, many Argentines have turned to Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto as a way to hedge against 60% inflation, despite the market being in the red for several months and the central bank forbidding financial institutions from operating …

Paraguay is viewed by many as a potential hot spot for cryptocurrency adoption due to low electricity costs and relatively soft taxation. The government has recognized this opportunity by pushing forward new legislation around digital assets. On May 25, a bill that regulates cryptocurrency trading, mining and custody was approved by the Paraguayan Congress in a vote of 40 to 12. The bill must now be ratified by the Senate to finally reach President Mario Abdo Benítez. Aprueban con modificaciones proyecto que regula la industria y comercialización de criptoactivoshttps://t.co/Z8kVoqVWWz@sebagar8 @DipNacBuzarquis @CelsoKennedy @tadeorojasm @bachinunez_nuez @luchozacariasAP @carlitosrejala pic.twitter.com/AlQ0Dh914S — Cámara de Diputados …

Laurentino Cortizo, the president of Panama, has said he won’t sign off on a crypto bill recently approved by the country’s National Assembly without additional Anti-Money Laundering rules. Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Latin America conference on Wednesday, Cortizo said the bill recently passed by Panama’s legislature must go through legal checks before reaching his desk, but added he needed more information before potentially signing it into law. Describing the legislation as an “innovative law” and a “good law,” the president said he approved of certain aspects of the bill but hinted at possible illicit uses of cryptocurrencies …

Nubank, the largest digital bank in Brazil and Latin America, announced that it has partnered with Paxos to allow the bank's customers to buy, sell and store cryptocurrencies directly through Nubank. Along with the launch of the new cryptocurrency transaction services, Nubank announced it will allocate roughly 1% of its net assets to Bitcoin (BTC) through the cashier of Nu Holdings, a company that controls the Nubank Group. “This move reinforces the company’s conviction in Bitcoin’s current and future potential in disrupting financial services in the region,” Nubank said, as translated by Cointelegraph. According to a statement from Nubank sent …

The tokenization of global property markets has been an ambitious goal of the blockchain space, and decentralized finance (DeFi) could offer a novel solution for the sector to pick up the pace. Decentralized oracle network Chainlink is set to power a tokenized real estate platform serving the Latin American property market. LaProp will allow investors to buy tokenized shares in various real-world properties, which will yield a percentage of income from rental payments. LaProp will look to leverage Chainlink Keepers’ node operators’ track record in securing billions of dollars invested in DeFi markets. The decentralized automation service carries out tasks …