“Can a Bitcoin-native exchange become the embedded financial rails for cross-border payments and payroll for Latin American SMEs?”
Founded in 2014 as a Bitcoin exchange serving Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, Bitex quickly layered cross-border payment rails on top of the exchange to serve Latin American SMEs needing to send international wire transfers and manage payroll abroad at low cost. The company expanded into a merchant payments product (BitexPay) that allowed large merchants to issue their own branded debit and charge cards. In 2022 Bitex was acquired by Huobi Group, folding into one of the largest global crypto conglomerates, though its operational footprint in Latin America has remained relatively small.