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Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: Venezuelan oil company PDVSA could use USDT to sidestep U.S. sanctions, Chivo Wallet denies hacking allegations, and Nubank expands its crypto functionality in Brazil.
Venezuela Might Use USDT for Sidestepping Sanctions
Venezuela is preparing to increase the reliance of one of its main industries on crypto and stablecoins payments. According to reports received by Reuters from three undetermined sources linked to PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, the government would be prepared to increase the amount of payments received in USDT, affected by the reinstation of unilateral U.S. sanctions against the country.
General License 44A, issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on April 17, provides the framework for companies with contracts with PDVSA and other Venezuelan gas and oil companies to wind down their joint business. The license established that these operations must be completed before May 31.
Reuters states that since last year, the company has started using USDT, a dollar-pegged stablecoin with a market capitalization of over $100 billion, as part of its accepted payment currencies. However, the upcoming reinstation of sanctions by the U.S. government has accelerated this process, with PDVSA shifting to a contract model that now demands more than half of each shipment’s payment to be made using USDT.
Salvadoran National Cryptocurrency Wallet Chivo Denies Hacking Allegations
Chivo wallet, the official Salvadoran cryptocurrency wallet, has ensured that its users’ data and the wallet’s source code are protected. The organization issued a press release denying the allegations of its links to a hack that exposed the personal data of over 5 million Salvadorans.
The database, which was leaked and posted for sale in a breach forum in August, was recently released, leaving the info of the included citizens in the open. The leaked information included registries of full names, unique identity numbers, dates of birth, addresses, telephones, emails, and a picture of each Salvadoran in the list.
Chivo Wallet disregarded this, remarking that its information had not been leaked. It stated:
Our users’ data is protected and Chivo security has not been breached.
Brazilian Fintech Nubank Enhances Cryptocurrency Wallet Functionalities
Nubank, a Brazilian fintech institution, is preparing to offer full cryptocurrency wallet services to its users. The company, which had already opened cryptocurrency purchases and sales services for some of its customers, has decided to broaden the functionality of its crypto offering.
According to an announcement made by the bank on April 22, the company opened deposits and withdrawals for bitcoin, ether, and solana for its customers. Nubank reinforced that crypto transfers can take approximately 60 minutes to complete, depending on the status of the chosen blockchain network. Also, it informed that users must always check the destination wallet before completing a transfer, given that crypto transactions are irreversible.