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Episode #164: Reshaping Money Movement in Latam with Matheus Moura
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Olá pessoal!
This week’s episode is with Matheus Moura, co-founder and CEO of Avenia (formerly BRLA Digital), where we discuss how the company is building out cross-border payments and financial infrastructure across Latin America.
We touch on the need for this infrastructure under the thesis that every company will eventually become a financial services company in some capacity. We also explore the role of stablecoins in the embedded finance landscape and why Latin America has emerged as ground zero for this transformation.
Avenia is also a sponsor of Brazil Crypto Report so be sure to check them out 🔥
BRLA Digital → Avenia
Avenia started off as a quantitative crypto hedge fund, but quickly transitioned in 2023 to focus on financial infrastructure upon realizing the strong product market fit opportunity in the crypto payments space. What started as an idea to create dollar savings accounts for Brazilians has evolved into a comprehensive platform that enables any company to offer financial services through a single API integration.
The company's rebrand to Avenia (from "avenida" - avenue in Spanish/Portuguese) perfectly captures their mission: building financial highways for seamless money movement across borders. This infrastructure approach addresses a critical market need, as evidenced by the fact that 90% of Avenia's current revenue comes from cross-border FX transactions.
Key Takeaways
* The End of "Not Moving Money": Matheus describes how traditional solutions like Wise rely on maintaining cash pools across markets to avoid actual money movement. Stablecoins enable real-time, low-cost transfers that eliminate the need for inefficient balance sheet management.
* Latin America's Perfect Storm: The region's combination of instant payment systems (Pix, SPEI), sophisticated user expectations for real-time transfers, and complex correspondent banking relationships creates ideal conditions for stablecoin adoption.
* Embedded Finance at Scale: Avenia's vision extends beyond FX to recreating all financial primitives (credit, investing, escrow) through stablecoins, enabling any company to become a financial services provider. Matheus sees this as similar to how cloud computing has democratized tech infrastructure over the last 20 years.
* Regulatory Readiness: Brazil's central bank's collaborative approach to innovation, combined with upcoming VASP regulations, positions the country as a leader in crypto-friendly financial infrastructure development.
* Regional Expansion Strategy: Success in Brazil provides the foundation for Avenia’s expansion across Latin America, with Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico identified as priority markets based on client demand and regulatory frameworks.
Pushing Forward
Avenia's roadmap includes expanding payment methods, card issuance capabilities, and additional financial primitives while maintaining focus on reducing complexity for companies entering Latin American markets. As Matheus noted, the goal is creating an environment where "everyone can pay like a local in any country of Latin America
Published on 3Â months, 3Â weeks ago