Only 9% of LatAm Stablecoin Firms Hold Verifiable Licenses: New Varys Capital & Verda Ventures Report

A new report from Varys Capital and Verda Ventures reveals a significant compliance gap in Latin America’s crypto sector, where only 9% of stablecoin and crypto-payment firms hold verifiable licenses. As Brazil prepares to enforce strict new VASP and stablecoin regulations, this lack of registration signals an impending shakeout for the region’s digital asset infrastructure.

What was announced

Varys Capital and Verda Ventures have released "Beyond the Acronym," a comprehensive study of the stablecoin and fintech landscape across Latin America. The report is built upon data from Stablescape, a proprietary database maintained by Verda that tracks more than 6,000 stablecoin and crypto-payments companies globally. Of the 532 companies identified as operating specifically within Latin America, the researchers could only verify licenses or registrations for 46 entities—just 9% of the regional market. This finding is particularly critical as it arrives just ahead of Brazil’s October 30 deadline for Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) authorisation applications.

The report also highlights a stark disparity between where companies are building and where capital is flowing. Brazil and Mexico currently host 44% of the region’s stablecoin firms, yet these two markets captured a dominant 78.5% of all 2025 Latin American venture funding in the sector. Conversely, the data suggests that Argentina, Colombia, and Panama are producing a disproportionately high number of startups relative to their share of regional investment. Furthermore, the report identifies a systemic vulnerability in the market's architecture: the wholesale FX and liquidity layer, which supports every retail wallet and on-ramp in the region, consists of only 16 companies. This represents the thinnest and most fragile part of the regional payment stack. The study also provides a framework for navigating four distinct Latin American sub-markets and analyzes the impact of Brazil’s BCB 561 stablecoin restriction, which became effective on October 1.

"The wholesale FX and liquidity layer that every retail wallet and ramp depends on is just 16 companies, the thinnest part of the stack."

Beyond the Acronym report, published by Varys Capital and Verda Ventures.

The companies involved

Varys Capital is a venture investment firm focused on the digital asset and fintech sectors, where it identifies emerging infrastructure and payment technologies. Tom Dunleavy serves as the Head of Venture at Varys Capital, overseeing the firm’s strategic investments into the crypto ecosystem. Partnering on this research is Verda Ventures, a firm that combines venture capital with deep data analytics to map the evolution of global payment rails. Amit Chu is a Co-founder at Verda Ventures and has been instrumental in the development of the Stablescape database, which serves as the primary intelligence source for the "Beyond the Acronym" report.

Verda Ventures has established a significant presence in the Latin American market by tracking the 532 entities currently operating in the region's crypto-payments space. The firm’s focus extends beyond simple investment, utilizing its data to categorize the market into functional layers, from retail interfaces to the underlying liquidity providers. By maintaining a global database of over 6,000 companies, Verda Ventures provides the comparative context necessary to measure Latin America’s regulatory maturity against international standards.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has previously monitored the investment activity of Verda Ventures as it supports the growth of digital dollar infrastructure in the region. In September 2026, we reported that Colombian Fintech Plenti Secures $3M Seed Round Led by Tether to Expand Digital Dollar Access. That funding round, which included participation from Verda Ventures, underscored the rising demand for stablecoin solutions in Colombia—a market that the "Beyond the Acronym" report now identifies as a high-growth hub for development despite receiving a smaller portion of regional venture capital than Brazil or Mexico. This prior coverage highlights the ongoing trend of institutional interest in bridging traditional fiat systems with digital asset rails in South America.

What this means

The revelation that 91% of the region’s stablecoin players lack verifiable registration suggests that the Latin American fintech sector is heading toward a massive regulatory "filter." With Brazil’s BCB 561 and VASP deadlines acting as immediate catalysts, firms that have operated in a grey area will likely be forced to exit or consolidate. The extreme concentration of liquidity in just 16 companies is a systemic risk; if any of these wholesale providers fail or face regulatory blocks, the retail ecosystem could face a sudden paralysis. This creates an environment where established, licensed players in Brazil and Mexico may gain an insurmountable lead over underfunded innovators in Argentina and Colombia.