Latin Americans are Moving Into Digital Dollars. Are Their Funds Safe?
An Argentine who stored the equal of $10,000 in peso money from 2016 to 2026 ended the last decade with about $114 in US-dollar worth.
That almost 99% loss explains why the dollar has entered everyday financial life across Latin America. Workers obtain salaries in stablecoins, whereas companies use digital {dollars} to gather income and pay international suppliers.
The Exodus Economy, a brand new report from BeInCrypto Intelligence, describes this as bottom-up dollarization. People stay at dwelling whereas extra of their monetary exercise strikes past home banks. The safety behind these greenback balances varies broadly.
The Dollar Has Become Working Money
More than 99% of tracked stablecoin withdrawal quantity moved onward inside 30 days. On Argentine pockets Lemon, the median withdrawal ranged from $150 to $270 in the course of the first half of 2026. The common was $544 throughout 215,597 transfers.
Separately, Bitso’s tracked stablecoin hall was working at an annualized $31.5 billion in 2026. The determine measures gross, bidirectional motion slightly than cash completely leaving the area.
The exercise appears to be like extra like a cost community than a financial savings vault. The cash arrives, then strikes towards spending or working prices.
Antônia Souza, Visa’s digital-currency director for Latin America and the Caribbean, mentioned establishments nonetheless account for the biggest flows.
“The big numbers that we are seeing on stablecoins are from institutional transactions and cross-border transactions, primarily B2B transactions.”
A Dollar Balance Can Hide Different Risks
BeInCrypto audited 12 dollar-account merchandise obtainable to Latin American prospects. Only two positioned buyer balances in insured US financial institution deposits. Five used stablecoins.
The greenback label reveals little concerning the safety beneath it. A steadiness may signify an insured deposit, a stablecoin declare or an funding product.
Reza Bundy, CEO of Atlas Capital Team, says savers should separate foreign money safety from wealth preservation.
“For a Latin American saver, nominal greenback publicity and preservation of actual buying energy are separate questions,” Bundy instructed BeInCrypto. “A stablecoin, financial institution deposit, Treasury bond and US fairness can all be denominated in {dollars} whereas carrying very totally different dangers.”
Holding {dollars} can shield in opposition to local-currency depreciation. US inflation can nonetheless cut back what these {dollars} purchase. Stablecoins can add issuer, platform and custody dangers.
Moving Into Treasuries Creates Another Decision
Some savers transfer past digital money and purchase US government bonds. The maturity of the bond can materially change the end result.
“Long-duration Treasuries are significantly delicate to adjustments in inflation expectations, rates of interest and the time period premium,” Bundy mentioned. “When yields rise, the market worth of an extended bond can decline considerably, though the US authorities continues making its funds.”
A saver holding the bond to maturity might obtain the promised funds. Someone promoting earlier may take a loss as a result of bond costs usually fall when charges rise.
Bundy additionally warns that cap-weighted US know-how indices focus cash in a small group of firms. He favors shorter-duration bonds and property that reply in another way to inflation, whereas acknowledging that every introduces new dangers.
Bottom-up dollarization offers Latin Americans entry to a foreign money that may maintain its worth higher than a weakening native foreign money. What they maintain after making that swap determines the authorized safety, liquidity and buying energy they obtain.
Disclosure
Bundy leads Atlas Capital Team, adviser to the Atlas America Fund, and Atlas AI Labs, the deliberate issuer of USAFi. Atlas has business pursuits linked to asset courses mentioned above. USAF is an ETF and should lose worth. USAFi stays pre-launch and requires a full VARA licence earlier than issuance. His feedback are common market views, not funding recommendation. The USAF prospectus lists its charges and dangers.
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