USDC Leads as Stablecoins Make Up 40% of LatAm Crypto Buys

Bitso’s Crypto Landscape in Latin America 2025 report found that stablecoins made up 40% of cryptocurrency purchases in the region in 2025. USDC accounted for 23% of purchases, USDT for about 16%, and Bitcoin for 18%.

The report, published in May 2026, analyzed activity from nearly 10 million customers across Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.

Country results varied. In Argentina, USDC and USDT together represented more than 70% of crypto purchases in 2025. In Brazil, stablecoins accounted for roughly 34% of purchases while Bitcoin led at about 22%. Colombia and Mexico fell between those two outcomes.

Despite the rise in stablecoin purchases, Bitcoin remained the largest holding across the markets studied, representing 52% of assets in wallets. That share declined by one percentage point year-on-year.

The report states: “a structural shift in how crypto is being used across the region: less as a speculative instrument and increasingly as financial infrastructure for savings, payments, and cross-border value transfer.”

Bitso’s analysis says growing demand for dollar-linked tokens reflects users seeking a stable, dollar-denominated medium for savings, payments and cross-border transfers where local banking and currency systems can be unreliable.

The report describes stablecoins such as USDC and USDT as instruments used for routine financial activity in the region and describes Bitcoin as the main reserve asset held in portfolios.