Blockchain.com, KuCoin expand payment rails across emerging markets

Blockchain.com, KuCoin expand payment rails across emerging markets

Blockchain.com launched a Brazil-focused payments platform for businesses, while KuCoin expanded integrations with banking and mobile-money networks across Mexico, Bangladesh and Zambia.

Bitso's "Stablecoin Landscape in Latin America report for the first half of 2026." Source: Bitso

The trend extends beyond Latin America. In a September 2025 report on crypto adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa, Chainalysis said stablecoins are frequently used in high-value trade flows between Africa, the Middle East and Asia, including multi-million-dollar transfers supporting sectors such as energy and merchant payments.

Companies are investing in infrastructure to support that growth. Last week, Trace Finance raised $32 million to expand its cross-border settlement network across Latin America, the United States and Asia-Pacific. The company said it had processed more than $10 billion in transaction volume and would use the funding to expand infrastructure connecting blockchain-based payments with local banking and foreign-exchange networks.

Despite growing adoption, regulatory questions remain. In May, Brazil's central bank prohibited the use of virtual assets in certain regulated cross-border payment services, reinforcing requirements that Electronic Foreign Exchange providers settle transactions through supervised foreign-exchange channels.

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