Verda Ventures report finds 16 of 494 LatAm stablecoin firms focus on liquidity
In brief
- Varys Capital and Verda Ventures analyzed 494 Latin American stablecoin companies using Verda's Stablescape database.
- Only 16 firms focus primarily on wholesale stablecoin-to-fiat liquidity, corporate treasury and credit.
- A key provider losing banking access could slow local-currency cash-outs, Verda partner Amit Chu said.
- The report doesn't measure liquidity concentration or market share, Chu acknowledged.
- Licensing is the biggest lever for reducing concentration, according to Chu.
What the report found
The report from crypto venture firms Varys Capital and Verda Ventures drew on Verda's Stablescape database, according to Cointelegraph. The authors warned that the system's fragility is concentrated in its thinnest layer (the 16 specialists out of 494 companies).
Demand isn't the issue. A September Chainalysis report cited by Cointelegraph found that by June 2026 stablecoins accounted for 32.1% of cross-border crypto value, 22.1% of domestic P2P activity and 17.6% of personal wallet balances in the region. A chart credited to Varys and Verda indicated that countries with the greatest monetary instability saw the fastest growth in stablecoin adoption.
Where Chu sees the risk
Chu's view is that many liquidity sellers pass currency risk to the same few desks and exchanges, though he said that can't be seen from public data. Exchanges and payment companies classified elsewhere in the database also supply liquidity. Verda believes some of them ultimately depend on the same underlying desks, Chu said.
If a key provider lost banking access, users could be left holding stablecoins and facing higher costs or delays when converting them into local currency, he said.
That's a thesis, not a measurement.
The report doesn't establish how concentrated liquidity itself is. Chu said Stablescape doesn't track transaction volumes and doesn't provide market share figures.
Caveats and possible fixes
Chu cautioned against assuming that a small number of specialists necessarily signals a problem.
Mature FX markets also have far fewer dealers than customer-facing firms. What matters is redundancy and capital
He said licensing is the biggest lever for reducing concentration, since clearer rules would make it easier for banks to serve liquidity providers. He also pointed to local-currency stablecoins as a way for more market makers to settle transactions onchain, and noted that global trading firms are beginning to quote Latin American currency pairs.
The report generally identified Latin America as a growth opportunity (particularly for businesses addressing cross-border payments). It argued that fragmented banking systems and costly transfers create demand for services that make it easier to move money between countries.
Frequently asked questions
How many Latin American stablecoin companies focus on wholesale liquidity?
A Varys Capital and Verda Ventures report built on Verda's Stablescape database analyzed 494 companies in the region. It found only 16 whose primary business is wholesale stablecoin-to-fiat liquidity, corporate treasury and credit.
What could happen if a key LatAm stablecoin liquidity provider failed?
Verda Ventures partner Amit Chu said that if a key provider lost banking access, users could be left holding stablecoins and facing higher costs or delays when converting them into local currency. The report doesn't measure how concentrated liquidity actually is.
How could stablecoin liquidity concentration in Latin America be reduced?
Chu said licensing is the biggest lever, since clearer rules would make it easier for banks to serve liquidity providers. He also pointed to local-currency stablecoins, which would let more market makers settle onchain, and noted that global trading firms are starting to quote Latin American currency pairs.
