Latam Insights: The US Claims Pix Restricts Trade, Plus Chile's Massive $88M Crypto Takedown

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compilation of the most relevant crypto news from Latin America over the past week. In this edition, the US targets Brazil’s Pix in a USTR report, Chile dismantles Tren de Aragua’s crypto laundering group, and a sugarcane-powered bitcoin mining project surges in Brazil.

• Key Takeaways:
• • The USTR targeted Pix under Section 301, stressing that it hurts U.S. commerce to impose trade sanctions on Brazil.
• • Chile caught 18 Tren de Aragua-linked crypto money launderers, estimated to have processed $88M.
• • Tether-backed Adecoagro is building a sugarcane bitcoin farm to drive green mining in Brazil.

US Targets Brazil’s Pix: Trade Report Claims Instant Payment System Restricts American Commerce

Pix, Brazil’s flagship instant payment system, has returned to the spotlight after being mentioned in the recent report from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

The report determined that, alongside other alleged causes, including preferential tariffs, anti-corruption enforcement, intellectual property protection, ethanol market access, and illegal deforestation, Pix burdens or restricts U.S. commerce, and the policies behind its establishment are “actionable under Section 301(b) of the Trade Act.”

On the “Notice of Determination and Request for Comments Concerning Action Pursuant to Section 301,” the USTR claims that “the acts, policies, and practices of Brazil related to its preferential treatment of Pix are a burden or restriction on U.S. commerce by imposing costs on U.S. services providers and by forcing U.S. providers to promote their Brazilian competitor, without compensation.”

Chile Busts $88 Million Crypto Laundering Ring Tied to the Sanctioned Tren de Aragua Cartel

A two-year investigation has resulted in the arrest of 18 individuals who operated a scheme that included crypto assets to launder the proceeds of illicit activities or the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang in Chile.

The operation, executed on Tuesday by the Chilean police and the Southern Prosecutor’s Office, was carried out in three regions of the country and uncovered a complex network of bank accounts, irregular companies, and cryptocurrency remittances.

Juan Carlos Pérez Asencio, a Venezuelan national who served as Banco Santander’s recovery executive since 2019, played an important role in providing the group’s tools to effectively carry out its operation.

Sugarcane-Powered Bitcoin Mine to Launch in Brazil With Tether Backing

Adecoagro, one of the largest agricultural companies in Latam, has announced a new project that seeks to combine one of its trademark crops with the rise of the data center wave. The company, which manages over 500k hectares of land in Brazil, Argentina, and other countries in Latam, is launching a project to power a bitcoin mining farm with energy obtained from sugarcane.

According to local media, Matheus Lechuga, project manager at Adecoagro, presented this initiative as part of the “Roots of the Future” agenda, demonstrating the company’s future operations in Mato Grosso do Sul.

He stated:

“Our data center project aims to validate our entire structure and try to apply new technological developments. Today, the project focuses on a structure geared towards Bitcoin mining, using clean energy from sugarcane.”