Emerging Markets

Two divergent experiments — Pakistan’s USD1 stablecoin partnership and Argentina’s grassroots bitcoin-credit movement — reveal how emerging markets test payments solutions under high inflation. These cases highlight trade-offs between regulatory control, on-ramps, and practical remittance needs for product teams and policymakers.

This piece traces how BTC is evolving into a currency hedge in 2025–26, using Iran’s rial collapse and growing institutional accumulation as linked case studies. It weighs anecdotal and on‑chain evidence against policy and regulatory risks that complicate the hedge thesis for emerging‑market investors.

Itaú's renewed recommendation for a 1%–3% Bitcoin allocation reframes BTC as a modest portfolio hedge and diversification tool. This article translates that guidance into practical portfolio examples, stress scenarios, tax and custody considerations, and entry strategies for Latin American investors and advisors.