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Oobit expands to Colombia as Latam crypto economy hits $44B and usage surges 200%

Reported by Cryptopolitan
May 18, 2026· 2 min read
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Key Takeaways
  • • Oobit, a non-custodial crypto payments platform backed by Tether, launched operations in Colombia, marking its ninth live market and expanding into Latin America's $44 billion cryptocurrency economy.
  • • Brazil has emerged as Oobit's strongest regional market, recording 202% growth in user activity since its November 2024 launch, with active users averaging approximately $400 monthly spend and 20 transactions per month.
  • • Colombia's Colombian Peso ranked second globally in centralized exchange stablecoin purchases by currency, according to Chainalysis data, signaling existing market demand for dollar-pegged digital assets and crypto payment solutions.
  • • USDT dominates transaction volume across Oobit's LATAM platform at the largest share, followed by Oobit's native token (OOB), while grocery stores and supermarkets account for 35% of crypto card spending across the region.
  • • The Colombia expansion joins prior LATAM entries into Argentina and Chile, establishing Oobit's multi-country footprint across a region demonstrating accelerating adoption of cryptocurrency for everyday payments.
Summary
Oobit, the non-custodial crypto payments platform backed by Tether, announced its official launch in Colombia on May 18, 2026, marking a strategic expansion into Latin America's $44 billion cryptocurrency market. The move represents Oobit's ninth live market globally and reinforces the company's growth trajectory across the LATAM region, where demand for real-world crypto payment solutions has accelerated significantly over the past six months.

The Colombia entry is supported by independent market intelligence from Chainalysis, which identified the Colombian Peso as the second-ranked currency by share of centralized exchange stablecoin purchases globally. This metric suggests the Colombian market has established familiarity with dollar-pegged digital assets and demonstrated practical demand for cryptocurrency-based financial products. Colombia joins existing LATAM operations in Argentina and Chile, positioning Oobit within a multi-country expansion strategy across the region.

Brazil has validated the commercial viability of Oobit's business model in LATAM. Since launching in November 2024, the platform recorded 202% growth in user activity. Active Brazilian users are spending approximately $400 per month on average and executing roughly 20 transactions monthly. This spending pattern indicates sustained demand for crypto-denominated payments at merchant level rather than speculative trading activity. Across Oobit's LATAM footprint, USDT is the dominant transaction token, accounting for the largest transaction share, followed by Oobit's native token (OOB), with USDC representing a significantly smaller third position.

Consumer spending patterns reveal practical utility-driven adoption. Grocery stores and supermarkets lead category spending at 35% across LATAM, followed by restaurants (8.8%), miscellaneous food stores (7.2%), department stores (5.3%), and fast food establishments (4.1%). This composition indicates that users are employing the Oobit crypto card for routine daily expenses rather than discretionary or luxury purchases, suggesting sustainable behavioral adoption rather than novelty-driven engagement. The merchant mix in Brazil specifically reflects a broader spending distribution, indicating market maturity and diversified use cases across the company's strongest regional market.

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Sources

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AlphaMaven summarised this story from the reporting below. Each link opens the original article.

Cryptopolitan Oobit expands to Colombia as Latam crypto economy hits $44B and usage surges 200%