Crypto Will Thrive in Mexico

Today we start the first of many pushes in Mexico to develop the skills and technologies needed to ensure that its people can fully participate in the growth of blockchain. We've launched our multi-city hackathon, where we will be on the ground working with Artists, Engineers, Students and Entrepreneurs to develop blockchain products for the future. etherfuse, along with our sponsors, is teaching, hacking, and rewarding those who can create products that push the country forward.

There will be excessive growth in the adoption of crypto in Mexico when compared to the rest of the world. Despite this unprecedented shift, the country is unprepared to capture the growth. Our mission is to promote the distribution of blockchain infrastructure by creating software, tools, policies, and products that enable users to capture most of the value they make. Today, we start the work to help develop the communities, skills, and knowledge required to build crypto products locally.  

Mexico's population uniquely positions the nation to benefit from crypto compared to other countries. These characteristics include costly credit, a gig economy, informal banking, internet coverage, mobile penetration, and remittances. There are few to no good reasons for policymakers in Mexico to say no to legal changes required to capture the growth of crypto. Recognizing this, we are working with policymakers to gain clarity and guidance on how best to provide crypto products to the general public. We hope to share the outcomes of our work with the general public and the developing entrepreneur and crypto communities.

Crypto will provide traditional banking value powered by blockchain technologies — in addition to those only available on the blockchain. Mexicans will access credit opportunities they currently don't have — made only possible through DeFi. A cheap way to send money to their loved ones without the costly fees required by the current system and the opportunity to own and invest in the products they use. The writing is on the wall; The possibilities for crypto in Mexico are unprecedented.

Despite the opportunities, there are hurdles, particularly in entrepreneurship, policy, and regulation. It is costly, slow, and complex to incorporate in Mexico. For these reasons, many US companies do not incorporate in Mexico but work through a local professional employer organization (PEO) to access the wealth of tech talent in the country. While this provides jobs for Mexican citizens, it prevents those employees from being first-class corporate citizens with comparable benefits and access to the same RSUs and equities as their US peers. Many entrepreneurs in Mexico also recognize these difficulties and instead choose to incorporate in the US as Delaware C Corp — despite being in Mexico creating products for Mexicans. We are fortunate to have strong backing and find that the PEO loophole does not apply the correct pressures on policymakers to improve policy. We have decided to incorporate directly as a Mexican entity. The outcome of our work should help future entrepreneurs and creators with clearer policy on creating crypto companies.

As a Mexican entity, we will work with the proper authorities to attain the required approval to provide crypto tokens, securities, products, and services in Mexico. We will open-source our learnings and publish the process so that Mexican companies might have it easier when establishing their entity and creating their products in the future. In November, we will officially launch our collaboration with policymakers on the first validator in Mexico. This launch will be a significant step in providing the frameworks and tools to position Mexico to capture the technological wealth its people are creating.

As many of us know, the blockchain is a giant technological leap and a new and novel approach to financial networks. Less common knowledge is that it's also an opportunity for an emerging market to escape the firm grip of traditional finance — which primarily benefits the west. Those markets can now create a system where they own the value they make. It's an opportunity to give the bankless the benefit of banking without the limitations and gatekeepers of the modern financial system.

Crypto will thrive in Mexico; we hope to be a part of it.