Brazilian fintech Dock will use crypto for international remittances

SAO PAULO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Brazilian financial services provider Dock said on Friday it will start using cryptocurrencies to process international remittances as it expands to Latin America and Europe.

Brazilian reais will be converted into bitcoin then into another currency, such as the dollar, and will reach end users through Dock customers such as Vivo (VIVT3.SA), opens new tab and Natura&CO (NTCO3.SA), opens new tab.

"It will be both a quick and cheap way of making remittances," Frederico Amaral, head of products and technology at Dock, told Reuters in an interview.

International transfers have been an increasingly coveted niche for fintechs such as Remessa Online and Wise that can sell services more cheaply than large banks.

Created in 2014 after being acquired by the North American venture capital fund Riverwood Capital, Dock until last year was named Conductor.

Dock in December received approval from the Brazilian Central Bank to buy rival Brasil Pré-pagos (BPP), which brought with it a financial institution license.

In July, Reuters reported that Dock had hired banks for an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States.

According to Amaral, the U.S. listing is a natural path for the company, but there is no rush because the company still has part of the $170 million it received at the end of 2020 from investors such as Temasek, Viking Global and Sunley House, a unit of Advent International.