After a year of challenges for the crypto industry, 2024 will be one of great importance for the sector with the new bitcoin halving among the events that will mark the course of the crypto world. The presidential elections in the United States and Mexico, as well as the recent presidential change in Argentina, are among the events that could also define the path of digital assets. Bitso —the leading financial services company powered by crypto in Latin America— shares some predictions for the industry in 2024.

• Regulation, regulatory compliance, and fraud prevention: After complicated events, the long-term impact of regulation will be positive on the credibility of the industry, as these actions will further encourage the adoption of cryptocurrencies in our region.
  In 2024, it is expected that conversations about regulation will continue to be part of the industry's objectives, the boom in the use of cryptocurrencies has driven important regulatory projects, with results in Brazil and the project to legislate it in Colombia. The need to promote local regulations that facilitate financial inclusion through crypto, maintaining the transparency of operations, as well as providing protection and certainty to users has become increasingly evident, because it will be the companies that have regulatory clarity that will remain in the financial ecosystem. Regulation and transparency are not optional, they are part of the future of the industry and there will surely be important advances this year. 
• Stablecoins continue to gain ground: The use of stablecoins to maintain liquidity in the face of financial volatility in some Latin American countries has driven the acquisition of stablecoins, which will continue to be a trend in 2024. Last December, USDT (stablecoin issued by Tether) set a historical record when it reached a market capitalization of 90,640 million dollars and is among the main stable currencies due to its parity with the dollar.
  The parity of stablecoins with fiat currencies or other assets such as gold allows them to maintain purchasing power and carry out operations in a simple way by converting them into the local currency, which has promoted their use among Bitso users in Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia.
• Investment and protection of assets: The expectation of a new crypto summer continues to excite investors, and one of the trends for 2024 will be the increasingly widespread use of crypto as an investment tool and for the diversification of savings in different assets that help people preserve the value of their money and build wealth.
  To achieve this, the crypto world will continue to innovate with tools that facilitate tasks for users and that allow them to monitor the behavior and statistics of different currencies. Products based on data analysis or even the use of Artificial Intelligence to make informed decisions will be key to capturing the best opportunities. Functionalities are also available on the Bitso platform, such as allowing you to schedule the purchase or sale of currencies when they reach the target price, down or up.
• Decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3: For the consolidation of Web3, which will allow the decentralization of the Internet with greater control over the ownership and privacy of information, decentralized finance or DeFi will play a fundamental role. Built thanks to blockchain technology, DeFi has diversified the possibilities of an open and equitable financial system based on smart contracts and with traceable operations that will be part of the future of finance.
  Although this is not new, in 2024 we will see important players in the ecosystem join the Web3 era, and offer products in which people will have greater control of their assets and their identity. And the arrival to the market of instruments that will facilitate and protect operations on Web3, promoting its adoption and use.
• A new “bitcoin moment”: After the last bitcoin halving in 2020, this year the reward for miners of this cryptocurrency will be halved again, which on previous occasions has increased the price of bitcoin. There is no exact date for when the halving will occur, but it is estimated that it will be in the first half of the year, so the value derived from the interest in the currency could increase in the months following this event.
  In addition, bitcoin ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) are currently under review and it is expected that, if approved, it will positively impact the interest of investors in the cryptocurrency.