Tether is stepping up its game in Latin America with a strategic investment in Parfin, the digital asset platform operating out of London and Rio de Janeiro.
The move is designed to boost USDT adoption among institutional players while strengthening on-chain settlement infrastructure across the region.
Parfin, founded in 2019, specializes in helping institutions custody, tokenize, and transact digital assets. The company recently secured registration as a Virtual Asset Service Provider in Argentina and has been active in Brazil since 2020. This investment positions USDT as a go-to settlement rail for cross-border payments, real-world asset tokenization, and trade finance operations including commercial invoices and card receivables.
“Latin America is becoming a global powerhouse for blockchain innovation,” said Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino. While the investment size was not disclosed, it follows Tether’s recent move into the Bitcoin-backed lending platform Ledn, signaling a broader strategy to deepen crypto infrastructure in the region.
USDT is the world’s largest stablecoin with a market cap of roughly $183.7 billion, contributing to a total stablecoin market capitalization of $303 billion, according to DefiLlama. Latin America has emerged as a crypto hotspot, with nearly $1.5 trillion in transactions between July 2022 and June 2025, as per Chainalysis.
Brazil dominates with $318.8 billion in inflows, and Argentina follows with $93.9 billion. Inflation remains a key driver, with Argentinians using crypto to protect their wealth amid peso volatility.
Stablecoins are proving their value beyond speculation. A March report from Mexican exchange Bitso noted that USDT and USDC made up 39% of all crypto purchases in 2024. Latin Americans increasingly use stablecoins for daily payments, savings, and cost-efficient remittances, bypassing SWIFT’s high fees.
“Tether’s investment validates Parfin’s vision,” said Parfin CEO Marcos Viriato. “We’re accelerating the integration of USDT into institutional-grade blockchain and digital asset solutions while maintaining top-tier security, privacy, and compliance standards.”
With Parfin building infrastructure to bring the global financial system on-chain, Tether is clearly betting on Latin America as a key growth engine for stablecoin adoption and tokenized financial products.
