Argentine exchange Ripio bets on peso stablecoins amid cautious 2026 outlook

One of Argentina's longest‑running exchanges, Ripio, is betting on local currency stablecoins and tokenized bonds to drive a decade‑long boom in tokenized money across Latin America.

Argentine exchange Ripio is leaning into local currency stablecoins and tokenized bonds as CEO Sebastián Serrano braces for what he expects to be a “lateralized” or down year for crypto in 2026 — but a decade-long boom for stablecoins. 

Founded in 2013, Ripio has shifted from a pure retail exchange into a B2B infrastructure provider serving banks, fintechs, and big platforms like Mercado Libre (Latin America’s answer to Amazon). 

The exchange now offers its own dollar stablecoin, Criptodólar (UXD), and a new range of local fiat-backed stablecoins, including the Argentine peso‑pegged wARS, the Brazilian real-pegged wBRL, the Mexican peso-pegged wMXN, and a tokenized version of Argentina’s most‑traded sovereign bond, AL30, which Serrano says traded “more than a million units” on the Sunday of the last Argentinian election in October, 2025.

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