Coinbase encourages the use of digital currency to eliminate bank fees
EFE (via 14ymedio), San Francisco, 21 June 2024 — On Thursday, the cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase launched a campaign for Latinos living in the United States to choose to send free and immediate remittances through its services in the digital currency USD Coin (USDC), avoiding transfer fees.
“Too many families believe that the traditional financial system does not work for them. Products such as USDC Transfer and Coinbase Wallet have become known because they offer people a cheaper and more accessible option,” said Coinbase’s policy director, Faryar Shirzad, in a statement after the audiovisual campaign they disseminated on their networks
USDC is backed by US dollars and has been available since December 2023; Coinbase Wallet, since August 2018.
One in eight Americans currently sends remittances with a total annual expense of $12 billion in commissions
According to this company, based in San Francisco (California), one in eight Americans currently sends remittances with a total annual expense of $12 billion in commissions and facing an average waiting time of five days for the operation to be executed.
Mexico represents more than half of the money transfers sent from the United States, and the states that use them the most – California, Texas, Arizona and Florida – also have some of the largest Latino populations in the country, according to Coinbase.
The average rate for sending money abroad from the United States is 6.18%: banks charge an average of 10.8%, money transfer operators an average of 6.2%, and post offices an average of 5.5%, according to a Coinbase press release.
“Cryptocurrency offers a solution, eliminating the need for intermediaries and accelerating the process of moving money, while drastically reducing rates. Latino voters are taking note,” said the former mayor of Los Angeles and now a member of the Coinbase Global Advisory Council, Antonio Villaraigosa.
The audiovisual announcement that Coinbase disseminated through its platforms is about a young man trying to send remittances to his grandmother in Puebla (Mexico) and the rates and delays he incurs using traditional money transfer methods.
Last month, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to deregulate the cryptocurrency sector
About 75% of remittances that leave the United States to Latin America are used to cover medical, food, education or housing expenses, according to Coinbase data.
Last month, a bipartisan majority of the US House of Representatives passed a bill to deregulate the cryptocurrency sector.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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