Ripio CEO Bets on Local Stablecoins Across Latin America

Introduction

Ripio, once a pure retail platform, has reoriented itself into a B2B infrastructure provider for Latin America’s crypto ecosystem. It has launched its own dollar stablecoin and a family of local currency stablecoins, along with tokenized debt assets, aiming to integrate more of the local economy on-chain. CEO Sebastián Serrano expects 2026 to be a sideways year for crypto, but believes stablecoins could drive a decade of growth across the region.

Key Takeaways

• Ripio pivots from consumer trading to B2B infrastructure, serving banks, fintechs, and large platforms such as Mercado Libre.
• The firm issues its own dollar stablecoin Criptodólar (UXD) and a lineup of local fiat-backed stablecoins, including wARS, wBRL and wMXN, plus a tokenized AL30 bond.
• Tokenizing local assets is framed as a pathway to reduce FX risk and bring more of the real economy on-chain, from debt to real estate.
• The long-term thesis centers on a decade of stablecoins as local economies adopt on-chain rails and tokenized assets amid a challenging macro backdrop.

Tickers mentioned:

Tickers mentioned: $USDC, $USDT, $ETH

Sentiment

Sentiment: Neutral

Price impact

Price impact: Neutral. The moves described reflect strategic product expansion and regional adoption rather than immediate market-driven shifts in price.

Trading idea (Not Financial Advice)

Trading idea (Not Financial Advice): Hold. The story centers on platform strategy and regional demand for stablecoins rather than short-term price catalysts.

Market context

Market context: The development occurs amid a broader shift toward local stablecoins and on-chain asset tokenization in emerging markets, where macro volatility and regulatory dynamics shape crypto adoption.

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Ripio’s shift toward local currency stablecoins and tokenized government debt comes as CEO Sebastián Serrano predicts crypto in 2026 will be largely lateral, while stablecoins enter a multi-year expansion. Since its founding in 2013, the Argentine company has moved from a consumer exchange to a B2B infrastructure player, serving banks, fintechs, and large platforms such as Mercado Libre.

The firm now issues its own dollar stablecoin, Criptodólar (UXD), alongside a line of local fiat-backed stablecoins including the Argentine peso-pegged wARS, the Brazilian real-pegged wBRL, and the Mexican peso-pegged wMXN. It has also tokenized Argentina’s AL30 bond, a move Serrano says drew on-chain activity that Sunday after the October 2025 elections surpassed one million units.

“The most liquid assets, like sovereign debt, are going to be tokenized first,” he told our newsroom, adding that tokenizing the dollar was merely the first step toward bringing more of the real economy on-chain — from horses to real estate.

Fixing stablecoin UX

Ripio’s local stablecoins are live on the Ethereum mainnet, Base, and World Chain, with World App integrating most deeply so far. In its launch month December 2025, wARS recorded roughly $200,000 in transaction volume, and about $160,000 by January.

Serrano describes initial traction as promising, but notes the objective of achieving at least $100 million in assets under management by year-end.

This model of pairing local stablecoins with virtual local bank accounts is designed to fix what Serrano describes as a “crappy” user experience in non-custodial wallets, which often force users into clunky buy flows and incur immediate FX losses when converting into dollar-stablecoins.

By enabling one-to-one conversions from local currency into local stablecoins, Ripio aims to streamline onboarding and reduce upfront FX drag.

Local stablecoins for local debt

Longer term, Serrano sees local stablecoins as critical for decentralized finance lending in countries like Argentina and Brazil, where it makes little sense for locally salaried workers to borrow in US dollars. Most DeFi protocols, he notes, require borrowing in USDC or USDT, creating FX risk for borrowers whose income is in pesos or reais. “Most of the economy is denominated in the local currency,” he says, arguing that local stablecoins are the missing building block for a shift toward a locally oriented DeFi lending stack.

The decade belongs to stablecoins

Ripio’s strategy unfolds against a turbulent domestic backdrop. While Serrano credits President Javier Milei with macroeconomic improvements, he says his approach to crypto is constrained by regulatory localization and compliance costs. He references Coinbase’s recent decision to pause peso fiat rails as an example of how local operations can be challenged in a tightening regulatory environment.

Rather than trying to outpace every consumer app—from Binance on trading to Lemon’s Bitcoin-collateralized card—Serrano has leaned into a B2B role, positioning Ripio as the provider behind multiple platforms instead of a single retail app. He says the next decade belongs to stablecoins, arguing that on-chain asset tokenization will continue to grow and that stablecoins will anchor much of that expansion, with on-chain volumes reaching trillions in 2025 and beyond.

“It’s going to be the decade of stablecoins,” Serrano says, underscoring the emphasis on on-ramping local currencies and assets to the blockchain regardless of regulatory headwinds.