Ripple Invests in Mexican DLT-Licensed Crypto Exchange Bitso

Ripple is leading an investment round in DLT-Licensed Crypto Exchange Bitso, one of the largest exchanges in Latin America, in order to address the increasing remittance flows in the LATAM region, by 10% in 2018, with Mexico receiving the largest amount of these payments in the region with over $35.7B transacted every year. The new investment round includes major investors such as Coinbase, Jump Capital, and existing investors Digital Currency Group and Pantera Capital.

Ripple’s solid belief that blockchain and digital assets could transform the remittance landscape by making it easier, quicker and cheaper to send money across borders, has led to a partnership with Bitso in 2014.

“This four-person shop is able to send money across borders with technology faster than the big banks. That’s incredible. It reminded me of sending my first email instantly to a friend across the world”, said Asheesh Birla, SVP of Product at Ripple. “This innovative company plays a vital role in RippleNet’s US – MXN corridor by providing critical liquidity for payments.” Bitso was a key exchange partner earlier this year, with the launch of Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) with MoneyGram in Mexico.

Bitso was the first cryptocurrency exchange in Mexico and serves both the banked and unbanked with blockchain technology and digital assets. As the largest exchange in Mexico, with a customer base of 750,000 and counting, Bitso targets a broad audience including retail consumers, traders, and institutional customers.

Bitso has recently become Latin America’s first DLT licensed exchange regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC). The European financial watchdog will be overseeing Bitso’s custodial service, withdrawals, deposits and trading of cryptocurrencies under a special framework designed for regulating businesses in the distributed ledger technologies industry.

Introduced in January 2018, Gibraltar’s DLT legislation is the world’s first purpose-built regulatory framework for businesses using blockchain or DLT. The framework has been informed by an open dialogue between regulators and industry figures, establishing adequate levels of flexibility for projects to thrive.

At the time of, Bitso CEO Daniel Vogel, stated: “Receiving a DLT license from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission represents a significant seal of approval for our exchange, and highlights our commitment to providing the most robust trading experience possible for our users. We are excited to begin this exciting new chapter with the core values of security, transparency, and trust firmly rooted in our service offering.”