Nubank Doubles Down on Crypto Expansion as Latin America’s Stablecoin Adoption Skyrockets

Latin America's banking disruptor just placed its biggest bet yet on digital assets.

Nubank—the $50 billion fintech giant that's been terrorizing traditional banks since 2013—is rolling out expanded crypto services across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. The move comes as stablecoin transactions across the region surge past traditional remittance volumes.

The Platform Play

Nubank isn't just dipping toes—it's diving headfirst into cryptocurrency infrastructure. New trading pairs, enhanced custody solutions, and streamlined fiat on-ramps are hitting the platform this quarter. The timing isn't accidental. Latin American stablecoin adoption grew 300% year-over-year while traditional banking fees...well, remained traditionally extortionate.

Regulatory Chess Match

Brazil's central bank watches from the sidelines—neither embracing nor blocking the movement. Meanwhile, Mexican regulators scramble to draft legislation that won't be obsolete by the time it prints. This regulatory gray zone creates perfect conditions for fintechs to build first and apologize later.

The Bottom Line

When stablecoins become more reliable than local currencies—and cheaper than Western Union—you know the financial revolution isn't coming. It's already here. Traditional banks might want to check their vaults. Something tells me they'll be feeling lighter soon.

Nubank expands crypto services as stablecoin use surges across Latin America

Founded in São Paulo in 2013, Nubank is a Brazilian digital bank serving over 100 million customers across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia. The bank entered the digital asset space in 2022 by allocating 1% of its net assets to Bitcoin and rolling out crypto trading for its customers.

In March 2025, Nubank broadened its crypto lineup by adding four altcoins, giving customers access to Cardano, Cosmos, Near Protocol, and Algorand.

Stablecoin adoption is surging across Latin America. In Brazil, the president of the Central Bank revealed at a Bank for International Settlements event in February that 90% of crypto activity in the country is tied to stablecoins.

Dollar-pegged digital assets are also gaining traction in Argentina, where inflation has surpassed 100% in recent years. A March 2025 report from Bitso showed that USDT and USDC accounted for 50% and 22% of all cryptocurrency purchases in Argentina in 2024, respectively. Across Bitso’s platforms in the region, stablecoins represented 39% of all crypto purchases that year.

Adoption is spreading to other countries as well. In July 2025, the Central Bank of Bolivia signed an agreement with El Salvador to promote crypto as a “viable and reliable alternative” to fiat. Since lifting its crypto ban in June 2024, Bolivian banks have been permitted to process bitcoin and stablecoin transactions.

In Venezuela, where inflation reached 229% in May, stablecoins such as USDT are increasingly replacing the bolívar in everyday transactions, from groceries to salaries. Chainalysis data indicates that stablecoins accounted for 47% of all crypto transactions under $10,000 in 2024.

Nu Holdings sees profit soar 42% as Nubank shifts focus

Nu Holdings, the parent company of Brazilian digital lender Nubank, reported a 42% year-on-year rise in net profit on a foreign exchange-neutral basis on Thursday, sending its shares up more than 8% in after-hours trading.

The company, which has 123 million clients in Brazil — its Core market — Colombia, and Mexico, made a second-quarter net profit of $637 million for the three months to June. Revenue was $3.7 billion, a 40% increase from the previous year.

In an interview, the company’s chief financial officer, Guilherme Lago, said the profit increase resulted from operational leverage and top-line growth, but that factors underpinning that increase were beginning to shift.

“If in the last three to five years a lot of our growth has come from adding new customers, in the next three to five years, much more of our revenue growth in Brazil will come from deepening the relationship with those customers,” Lago said.

Nubank’s annualized return on equity, a measure of profitability, settled at 28%, compared to the year-earlier figure reported.

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