Bitso Business Surpasses $12 Billion in Transactions in 2024 and Unveils Study Revealing Stablecoins as the Leading Alternative for Cross-Border Payments
By Lauren Hinton · 17 December 2024
Bitso Business – the B2B arm of Bitso that provides the infrastructure for the future of cross-border payments – releases its 2024 results. The company nearly doubled its business, by serving diverse industries such as e-commerce, OTC/trading, gaming and money transmitters, offering seamless and regulated integration with local banking systems and trading options for companies that move massive volumes of money and need high liquidity and fast settlement times; as well as for businesses that aggregate different payment methods and need one integration for multiple countries at the same time. Key 2024 results include:
- 90% growth in volume transacted YoY1
- More than $12 billion in transactions
- Bitso Business managed more than 10% of total remittances between US and Mexico, which today is considered the biggest remittances corridor of the world2. For these transactions, in 20243 Bitso Business registered a volume of more than $6.5 billion, exceeding the $4.3 billion recorded last year and the $3.3 billion registered in 2022, consolidating an accelerated cross-border remittances growth.
The performance announcement comes in the framework of the launch of the study “From Barriers to Bridges: How Blockchain Can Reshape Cross-Border Payments in Latin America”, conducted by PCMI, that addresses how blockchain technology and stablecoins are rapidly emerging as preferred methods for global value transfer, by removing intermediaries, cutting costs, and increasing transaction speeds.
The global cross-border payments market, currently valued at $44 trillion, is projected to reach $65 trillion by 2030. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) stand out as the fastest-growing remittance region, with flows doubling over the past decade to $156 billion in 2023, growing at 10% annually since 2014—well above the global rate of 4%. Digital remittances in LAC are also expanding rapidly at 23% annually. Meanwhile, the region’s B2B cross-border payments market is set to more than double, from $600 billion to $1.37 trillion by 2030.
“Despite this immense potential, cross-border payments in LAC remain hampered by inefficiencies in the traditional SWIFT-based correspondent banking system, marked by multiple intermediaries, settlement delays, and fees exceeding 6% for remittances for some corridors. In fact, considering the average cost to send remittances worldwide, one of the most expensive regions for both fees and remittances is Latin America and the Caribbean”, says Ignacio Carballo, Head of Alternative Finance at PCMI.
Stablecoins have emerged as promising alternatives to fully realizing the potential of cross-border payments. Like traditional currency, they are designed to maintain their value, but they have a very important differential: stablecoins offer the potential to eliminate intermediaries that add costs and delays, as they can be sent instantly via blockchain, operate 24/7/365, require only an internet connection, and are easily bought and sold.
1Volume transacted from January to November 2024, compared to the same period of 2023
2According to the IDB and Mastercard
3Total year to date (Jan-Dec16, 2024)
“By enabling thousands of clients around the world to make local and international payments, Bitso Business has developed the capabilities to disrupt money movement across borders in four key areas: technology, ramps, liquidity, and regulation. With this study, we want to help more businesses to unlock the full potential of stablecoins in cross-border payments and expand their business globally in the most efficient and transparent way”, says Gabriele Zuliani, Bitso Business Director.
As stablecoins’ advantages become more widely acknowledged across different industries, its application in cross-border payments is expected to increase exponentially and companies expanding businesses to LatAm will be able to experience cost-efficient, transparent and fast international payments. By working together, businesses and regulators can navigate this evolving landscape and embrace innovative solutions that can drive the region’s full economic potential. Companies in this story: Bitso, PCMI
People in this story: Gabriele Zuliani, Ignacio Carballo