Why in news? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a statement on the use of cryptocurrency in the Latin American and Caribbean market, and about the rising interest in blockchain-based central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Highlights:

Why is Latin America’s crypto economy so significant?

• Some of the Latin American countries have experienced devaluation of their currency against the U.S. dollar
• To preserve the value of their savings some chosen to convert their assets to stablecoins
• El Salvador is the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation as its legal tender.