BCR Podcast #44: BTG Pactual's stablecoin play with Andre Portilho

Olá pessoal! Today I’m joined by Andre Portilho, who runs BTG Pactual’s digital assets division.BTG Pactual is one of the largest banks in Brazil and the largest investment bank in Latin America. He previously ran the options desk at BTG when bitcoin came onto his radar in 2017. Since then, BTG has been a leader among financial institutions globally in embracing and utilizing blockchain technology as well as offering crypto products to its clients.Last year, BTG launched its Mynt crypto platform, which offers more than 20 cryptocurrencies to customers through its application. In April 2023, BTG launched its own dollar-backed BTG Dol stablecoin, becoming what appears to be the first financial institution in the world to issue a stablecoin intended for use by retail investors. In this episode we discuss:* How the BTG Dol idea originated earlier this year* The current demand for US dollar exposure among Brazilian investors and BTG customers* BTG’s experience issuing a real estate-backed security token in 2018 * How recent banking and stablecoin crises impacted the BTG Dol’s design* The value proposition of a stablecoin issued by heavily regulated TradFi institution such as BTG Pactual* The uptake of the Mynt platform among retail investors since late 2022Please note that since we recorded this episode, Andre’s team at BTG acquired a 20 percent stake in Lumx Studios, which is one of Brazil’s biggest NFT and Web3 brands. I will discuss this development in a later episode. You can also listen to this episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTubeI really enjoyed this conversation with Andre and I hope you do as well. -AWSThank you for reading Brazil Crypto Report. If you enjoyed this content please consider sharing! Get full access to Brazil Crypto Report at brazilcrypto.substack.com/subscribe