6 DeFi and Web3 projects in Latam to watch •

Just as in the 90s there was too much talk around “the web” and “doing things online”, we now live in an era where the hottest buzzwords are “Web3”, “DeFi” (decentralized finance, by its acronym in English) is ) and “decentralization”.

But just as in the dot-com era, these new technological concepts are a source of general confusion and skepticism. Does Web3 really represent a complete overhaul of how the Internet works or is it just a marketing gimmick? What are the disadvantages of decentralizing financial services? How much more can the NFT market grow?

It is still too early to answer these questions. These technologies are so new that it is unclear what is just a fad and what truly has the potential to radically transform our lives individually and collectively. At the moment, it would be unwise to predict their success or failure – a bit like when a magazine declared in 1999 that Amazon had already bombed.

However, there are certain certainties that force us to consider DeFi and Web3 as serious industries at the moment. First, they attract large investors. According to a report by Galaxy Digital Research, US$33 billion of VC money was invested in blockchain and DeFi startups globally in 2021. Some of the leading VC firms in America have announced significant capital allocations in these emerging industries. See Andreessen Horowitz, which is raising its third crypto-focused fund, eyeing US$4.5 billion.

Second, Latin America has become an incubator for new DeFi and Web3 companies. With abundant tech-savvy talent, a history of unreliable centralized institutions, and the disruptive startup culture that has flourished for at least a decade, the region is uniquely positioned to be a disruptive laboratory for the next generation of Internet companies.

Additionally, Latin America leads the world in terms of cryptocurrency adoption. These digital assets are the key to decentralizing finance and stop depending on third parties (traditional banking institutions and regulators) to make transactions.

Before we talk about the DeFi and Web3 companies worth watching in the region, a few notes:

We have only selected companies that have raised capital and are focused on developing DeFi solutions that depend on blockchain technology (essential for the crypto world) or that seek to decentralize the internet as it currently functions. The latter is the main premise of Web3. Web3 is so called because it is “the third age of the Internet”. The first was led by open protocols (HTTP and HTTPS), which created the entire Internet infrastructure we use today. The second considers the rise of large corporations like Google and Amazon, which centralize and basically control everything we do online. Web3’s thesis is that by decentralizing all types of services through blockchain and crypto, every internet user will have more freedom online. We excluded from the list those companies or projects focused exclusively on crypto exchange or NFT sales, as we believe that DeFi and Web3 related companies did not have as much regional visibility. Although their decentralized nature implies that they are not subject to geographical limitations, we consider these companies to be Latin American either because they have obtained capital from regional funds, operate mainly in this market, or because their founders are from a Latin American country come. Decentralized country of origin: Argentina (founding nationality)

Industry: Web3

Founders: Ari Meilich and Esteban Ordan

Support: It launched its ICO in 2017. As of January 2020, it has raised US$25.5 million in three rounds.

Decentraland is a decentralized 3D virtual reality platform that runs on the Ethereum blockchain. It is a gateway to the metaverse, as users can create virtual structures such as casinos, art galleries, concert halls and theme parks, and charge virtual visitors a fee. The platform uses its own cryptocurrency, MANA, which allows visitors to buy digital parcels as NFTs and use them as virtual properties. Companies such as Samsung, Adidas, Tommy Hilfiger and Sotheby’s have already participated in Decentraland, either by buying digital land or having some kind of brand activation on the platform.

Let’s BitOrigin: Argentina

Industry: DeFi

Founders: Camilo Cristia, Santos Barrios, Agustín Abraham and Joaquín Gómez

Backing: Pre-seed round led by Angel Ventures. Other investors included Primary Ventures of Grupo MATBA-ROFEX, the main derivatives market in Argentina.

Let’sBit is a crypto bank that uses the crypto world infrastructure built on open blockchain protocols to offer banking services such as payments, transfers, loans and investments. The company wants to be a bridge between traditional banking and crypto. “Our technology allows the bank accounts that users already have in traditional banks to be used to transfer their money to crypto and start taking better advantage of it in DeFi protocols,” Santos Barrios, Let’sBit co-founder and CTO, told Contxto explained. .

MyFansOrigin: Mexico

Industry: Web3

Founders: Alex Ramírez and Hiram Altamirano

Support: $600K after participating in 500 Latam

MisFans becomes a tool for content creators (a very broad term that includes designers, writers, dancers, actors, artists and countless other categories) to make a living from their creations. Instead of opting out of centralized social networks like YouTube, TikTok, Twitch and Instagram, creators can add all their social profile links to their MisFans account and monetize from there. It’s a link-in-bio solution that wants to empower internet creators without being dependent on big companies – one of the key promises of Web3.

Lemon Origin: Argentina

Industry: DeFi/Fintech

Founders: Borja Martel Seward and Marcelo Cavazzoli

Backing: A total of US$17.4 million in four investment rounds, the most recent a Series A in mid-2021.

Besides being a platform to buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and ETH with Argentine pesos, Lemon is the country’s first virtual wallet to pay with both types of currencies (crypto and fiat). Lemon works as a bridge between the crypto world and traditional financial infrastructure to gradually incorporate crypto into daily transactions. It gives 2% cashback in Bitcoin for every purchase, offers the Lemon Cash card to facilitate transactions, and offers Lemon Earn, which uses decentralized protocols to invest in different cryptos.

MoviiOrigin: Colombia

Industry: DeFi

Founder: Hernando Rubio

Backing: Its most recent round: a US$15 million Series B from Square and Hard Yaka.

Moviei was created in Colombia in 2018. It offers a digital wallet and a debit card linked to a payment system for merchants. The payment system is authorized by Colombian regulators. It has also partnered with national government-backed pilot programs to develop deposit and withdrawal services via a crypto-asset exchange platform.

XcapitOrigin: Argentina

Industry: DeFi

Founders: Fernando Boiero and Jose Trajtenberg

Backing: US$1.1 million in 3 investment rounds. It is also part of the Unicef ​​innovation fund

Xcapit is a blockchain and AI-based solution wealth management tool for Latam focused on investments and sound financial planning. In addition to offering financial education courses and financial goal planning tools, the Xcapit app enables users to save and invest using DeFi protocols. This is perhaps the most interesting part of the project because it eliminates wealth managers as middlemen and allows more people, even if they are not financially savvy or have a bank account, to invest without worrying about fraud or mismanagement. Xcapit is described as a decentralized, open source, escrow wallet.

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