Bitso has added support for USAT (USA₮), Tether’s U.S.-regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin purpose-built to operate inside the new federal framework created by the GENIUS Act. Users across Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and other markets served by the exchange can now buy the token directly with local currency through the app.

The timing is deliberate: Bitso is hosting the Stablecoin Conference LATAM 2026 on June 15–16 at the World Trade Center in Mexico City, with Tether as a lead sponsor and Bo Hines, CEO of Tether’s U.S. USAT effort and former White House crypto policy director, scheduled as a keynote speaker.

Context: what the GENIUS Act changed for dollar stablecoins

Before the GENIUS Act was signed into law on July 18, 2025, dollar-pegged stablecoins used heavily in Latin America operated largely offshore. The largest, USDT, is issued by Tether under a foreign structure and has faced years of U.S. regulatory scrutiny. Institutions and platforms seeking clear federal compliance had limited options that carried the Tether brand and liquidity.

The GENIUS Act established the first comprehensive federal rules for payment stablecoins in the United States. It requires 1:1 reserve backing with high-quality liquid assets, regular attestations, AML program standards, and — crucially — that issuance occur through appropriately licensed U.S. entities.

USAT was designed from the outset to fit inside that regime.

What USAT is and how it differs from USDT

USAT is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., the first and only federally chartered digital asset bank in the U.S., supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Reserves — cash and short-term U.S. Treasury bills — sit in segregated trust accounts at Cantor Fitzgerald, which also acts as preferred primary dealer.

The token maintains a 1:1 peg to the U.S. dollar and runs initially on Ethereum, with plans to expand to additional networks. Monthly reserve reports are published and independently attested, including by firms such as Deloitte in early disclosures.

Tether brings its global distribution muscle and liquidity relationships to USAT, while the issuance and reserve stack sit inside a fully U.S.-regulated perimeter. The structure lets the company offer a domestically compliant product without forcing the much larger offshore USDT through the same regime.

Bitso’s announcement on June 10 made clear that USAT is now available for direct purchase and conversion inside the Bitso app, alongside existing options.

Why this matters for Latin America

For Latin American users and businesses, the addition is more than another ticker. Bitso already serves millions of retail users and thousands of institutional clients with local-currency on- and off-ramps in multiple countries. Adding a GENIUS Act-compliant dollar stablecoin through that same interface gives regional participants a path to a regulated U.S. digital dollar that they can access, hold briefly or withdraw, using the pesos, reais or other local currency they actually earn and spend.

Potential use cases include treasury and hedging for companies and freelancers exposed to local currency volatility, payment rails where counterparties prefer attested U.S.-supervised reserves, and on-chain liquidity that platforms and fintechs can tap without stepping entirely outside familiar compliance expectations.

Because USAT can be withdrawn to self-custody Ethereum wallets (and future supported chains), users who prefer not to leave value on an exchange can still move it off-platform once acquired. The on-ramp itself stays inside the regulated exchange many LatAm crypto users already trust for fiat conversion.

The move also lands as U.S. institutions themselves begin preferring GENIUS-compliant vehicles for certain flows. LatAm platforms that can surface those vehicles to their users position themselves as bridges rather than bystanders in the next phase of stablecoin adoption.

Takeaway

Bitso bringing USAT live for its LatAm customer base is a small but concrete step in the larger story of regulated digital dollars meeting regional distribution. A U.S. federally supervised stablecoin is now one conversion away for millions of users who already rely on Bitso for moving between local currency and crypto.

The development is timed with the region’s flagship stablecoin gathering, where the practical questions of compliance, custody, liquidity, and on-ramps will be front and center. Whether USAT sees rapid uptake or remains a niche institutional-adjacent product will play out over coming months — but the on-ramp now exists.

Not financial advice. Stablecoins carry issuer, regulatory, peg, and operational risks even when reserves are attested and issuance is regulated. Users should understand the specific structure of any token they acquire and do their own research. Past or current availability on any platform does not guarantee future support or liquidity.

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