Tether coin available in 24,000 ATMs in Brazil

Yesterday Tether announced that its USDT coin will be available in more than 24,000 ATMs in Brazil starting 3 November. 

The launch will be possible thanks to SmartPay, which said it will make USDT available in all its ATMs starting from 3 November. 

Você já imaginou sacar Tether (USD₮) nos caixas 24Horas ? Não ? Saiba que agora vai ser possível, a partir do dia 3 de novembro já estará disponível em mais de 24.000 caixas eletrônicos espalhados
pelo Brasil. @Tether_to #swapix #smartpay #USD₮ #Tether #Real #caixa24horas pic.twitter.com/fD4eRs8pBm

— SmartPay Serviços Digitais (@smartpaybrasil) October 20, 2022

SmartPay brings Tether coin to Brazil

SmartPay is a Brazilian company that offers financial services specifically to the so-called unbanked, meaning people without a bank account. 

Indeed, it allows them to make wire transfers, withdraw from ATMs, pay bills, and trade cryptocurrencies. 

According to data revealed by a January 2021 study in Brazil by Instituto Locomotiva, there were still 34 million unbanked adults in the country at the time. SmartPay is targeting this huge potential user base by offering them the ability to send and receive money and cryptocurrency anywhere in the world, with the ability to withdraw banknotes at its 24,000 ATMs as well. 

On their official website they state: 

“Fast, easy and cost effective. Without any of the traditional restrictions.”

The site also shows that their main target audience is Brazilians who live or travel abroad, because their services allow for domestic transactions even if they are not physically in the country. These certainly include remittances, which is money sent back home, usually to family members, by Brazilians working abroad. 

It works thanks to an app that supports both the local currency, namely the Brazilian Real, and major cryptocurrencies. These include Tether (USDT). 

But the app also provides access to an “ecosystem of blockchain services,” including insurance, lending, cashback, tokenback, as well as credit and prepaid cards. In fact, the company also has a team composed of crypto industry experts, specializing in blockchain technologies, who develop specific solutions for implementing their PIX APIs and tokenization of assets. 

Tether expands into Brazil

The integration of USDT into SmartPay will provide millions of Brazilians with access to the digital asset ecosystem, also enabling them to convert USDT to Real, and thus withdraw bills at physical ATMs in the country. 

Moreover, Tether tokens currently appear to be one of the most widely used cryptocurrencies in the region. In August 2022 alone, more than $1.4 billion was moved in USDT, with 79,836 transactions averaging just under $18,000 per transaction. This shows that to date USDT in Brazil is not being used primarily for small transactions, but mainly for large-value transactions. 

Through integration with SmartPay this could change. 

Tether’s CTO, Paolo Ardoino, stated: 

“The difficulties and limitations imposed by inflation and a less-than-inclusive financial system has excluded many of Brazil’s citizens from being able to participate in the country’s growing economy. Adding tether tokens to ATMs across Brazil provides the opportunity to include more people in the financial system. This will bring major changes not only to the payments industry but to the entire Brazilian financial ecosystem.”

SmartPay CEO Rocelo Lopes added: 

“After we integrated tether tokens with the Brazilian Payment System called PiX, we integrated with TecBan which is the largest ATM company provider in Brazil. Before we used to say where you can pay with PiX, you can pay with tether tokens – now where you see Banco24Horas you can convert tether tokens into Reais.”

Tether’s reputation 

Furthermore, Tether’s reputation has improved greatly in recent months. Not only have they now amply demonstrated that the USDT in circulation is 100% backed by reserves, but they have also announced that they have significantly improved the quality of these reserves. 

It should not be forgotten that USDT has been in existence for eight years now, and in recent years its value has never deviated significantly from $1. 

In fact, in the past it fell as low as $0.92, but that was in April 2017. Its most difficult year was 2018 when it deviated from parity with the dollar by 30% by very briefly exceeding $1.3 in July. 

But once the big problems of 2018 were solved, from 2019 onward its value has almost always fluctuated between $0.99 and $1.01.