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Founded in 2013, the Argentine-based exchange Ripio has executed a strategic shift in its core business model, moving away from its origins as a pure retail exchange. The company now operates as a business-to-business (B2B) infrastructure provider, a transition designed to support the growing digital asset needs of institutional clients. Under this new framework, Ripio serves a diverse clientele that includes traditional banks, fintech companies, and major regional platforms such as Mercado Libre. This infrastructure-first approach allows the firm to provide the underlying technology for digital financial services across Latin America.
The company’s current product portfolio highlights this pivot toward institutional-grade offerings and localized solutions. Ripio currently offers its own proprietary dollar-pegged stablecoin, known as Criptodólar (UXD), alongside a specialized suite of local fiat-backed stablecoins. This range includes tokens pegged to several major regional currencies, such as the Argentine peso-pegged wARS, the Brazilian real-pegged wBRL, and the Mexican peso-pegged wMXN. In addition to these currency tokens, Ripio has introduced a tokenized version of the AL30, which is recognized as Argentina’s most-traded sovereign bond. This expansion into tokenized traditional assets and localized stablecoins represents the firm’s attempt to bridge the gap between blockchain technology and the existing financial infrastructure of the markets it serves.
Context
The expansion into localized digital assets comes at a time when the global stablecoin market is reaching unprecedented scale. Reports indicate that stablecoins processed approximately $33 trillion in on-chain transaction volume throughout 2025, highlighting the significant role these assets play in the broader financial ecosystem. Ripio’s strategy involves providing specific building blocks for this economy by launching fiat-backed stablecoins like wARS, wBRL, and wMXN. These assets are intended to function as stable digital representations of the Argentine peso, Brazilian real, and Mexican peso, respectively, providing local users with blockchain-native options for their native currencies.
A notable example of the demand for tokenized traditional instruments was seen with the AL30 sovereign bond. This tokenized version of Argentina’s most liquid debt instrument experienced high levels of activity during a period of significant political and economic focus. Specifically, on the Sunday of the last Argentinian election held in October 2025, the AL30 token recorded more than a million units in trading volume. This surge in activity during a critical national event underscores the potential utility of tokenized sovereign debt for market participants. By offering these tokenized bonds alongside local stablecoins, the firm is positioning itself to handle high-volume financial traffic during periods of market volatility or heightened interest in traditional sovereign assets.
Impact
To ensure broad accessibility and utility for its local stablecoins, Ripio has deployed these assets across multiple blockchain networks. Currently, the firm’s local fiat-backed tokens are live on the Ethereum mainnet, as well as the Layer 2 scaling solutions Base and World Chain. This multi-chain strategy is intended to provide flexibility for users and developers looking to integrate these assets into various decentralized applications. To date, the World App has demonstrated the deepest level of integration with Ripio’s stablecoin offerings, providing a streamlined environment for users to interact with these localized digital assets.
Performance data from the initial months of operation shows a measurable level of adoption for these new instruments. The Argentine peso-pegged stablecoin, wARS, saw approximately $200,000 in transaction volume during its launch month of December 2025. This activity continued into the new year, with January figures showing roughly $160,000 in transaction volume for the wARS token. These early metrics reflect the initial traction of the tokens within their respective ecosystems as they begin to be utilized for on-chain transactions. By establishing these initial volumes on networks like Ethereum, Base, and World Chain, Ripio is testing the infrastructure necessary to support larger-scale movement of local fiat values in a digital format.
Outlook
Ripio has established ambitious growth targets for its localized digital asset ecosystem as it continues its operation as a B2B provider. The company’s primary objective for its local currency stablecoins is to achieve at least $100 million in assets under management (AUM) by the end of the current year. This target represents a significant scaling effort intended to move the products from their initial launch phase into a more mature market position. Reaching this AUM milestone would provide the necessary liquidity to support more complex financial services built on top of the wARS, wBRL, and wMXN tokens.
The company’s long-term outlook is centered on its role as an infrastructure backbone for other financial platforms. By focusing on serving banks and fintechs rather than competing solely for retail users, Ripio aims to become the primary provider for institutions that need to offer digital asset services to their own customer bases. This includes continuing to support major platforms like Mercado Libre with the necessary tools to handle stablecoins and tokenized assets. As the firm pursues its AUM goals, it remains focused on providing the foundational elements required for the local economy to function on-chain, utilizing its suite of fiat-pegged tokens and tokenized sovereign debt as the core components of this infrastructure.
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