inflation in Argentina is over 250%. in Colombia, the peso lost 20% of its value in just two years. across LATAM, currency depreciation is a daily reality as it erodes savings faster than people can adapt. over 70% of deposits in Argentina are already in USD, and in Peru, over 40% of bank deposits are dollarized. demand for stable value is obvious, but access is bottlenecked by outdated financial infra. in 2023, remittances to LATAM reached $155B according to the World Bank. Mexico alone received $63B. however, most of that money came from the U.S. and was converted to local currency the moment it arrived. in high-inflation economies, purchasing power disappears almost instantly. on average, 5–7% of remittances are lost to fees (totaling billions every year). freelancers, exporters, and e-commerce sellers face the same challenge. payments in USD are converted on arrival. value is lost through FX spreads, conversion fees, and inflation. LATAM currencies as a whole have lost 30-40% against the dollar in the last five years. @beam_cash’s U.S. accounts & payment infra provide the missing link to defend against value erosion. through APIs to licensed U.S. banks, platforms can provision named USD accounts with unique routing and account numbers. those accounts can: - receive USD via Fedwire, ACH, SWIFT, or stablecoins - hold USD in U.S. depository institutions with FDIC pass-through insurance eligibility - send USD domestically and globally, with the ability to leverage stablecoins for use cases where they provide faster or cheaper settlement than SWIFT the commercial opportunity is enormous. nearly 50% of LATAM trade is already invoiced in USD, even between non-U.S. counterparties. merchants want to price in dollars without recalculating FX rates daily. suppliers want direct USD payments without paying 3–5% in correspondent bank fees. platforms like Beam bring this all together to let anyone transact in USD. by combining onboarding, compliance, payments, and settlement into a single integration, Beam lets teams launch USD products quickly, with lower cost, and at scale. in a region where nearly 70% of adults are underbanked but smartphone penetration is above 80%, U.S. accounts + modern payment infra are creating a major opportunity. in today’s world, anyone with a smartphone can now access the best banking infra on the planet to send, receive, and hold the world’s most in-demand currency: USD platforms in the region (like @belo_app, @eldoradoio, @buenbit, and @lemonapp_ar) are already moving in this direction, and it will be exciting to see how quickly adoption spreads