For weeks, we’ve been talking about the “jump” Latin America is making and why is important for us to focus on this region.
From Panama, LABFin (Latin America Blockchain and Fintech Initiative) is working on expansion plans for Central and South America. To learn more details, Cointelegraph en Español spoke on March 29 with its director, Charles Gonzales.
What is LABFin exactly?
Gonzales explained: “LABFin is a coalition of companies and projects working in the fintech and blockchain sector.” The idea arose from the lack of an inclusive foundation in Panama, which has the connections and experience to advise all the branches in the sector. private and public sector on the use of these technologies “.
In addition to being the director of LABFin, Gonzales is also the CEO of ChainZilla. “Basically, ChainZilla is our corporate division and LABFin is our non-profit division, both entities complement each other since ChainZilla is a technology provider for many projects in the blockchain sector”, he explained.
Why Panama?
On the other hand, he explained: “The foundation was established in Panama to focus on the region of Central and South America, we currently have members in Panama, Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, and even in Europe, we have expansion plans and invite any company who wants to support our goals to join the group”-
When asked about the activities they do, Gonzales said: “This year we are focused on creating awareness about technology through presentations, workshops and events, with the goal of integrating 20 of the most influential companies in Panama to our coalition”.
Links with CAPATEC
The Panamanian Chamber of Information Technology, Innovation and Telecommunications (CAPATEC), is an initiative that brings together companies that generate knowledge in various sectors including fintech and now blockchain. In this framework, a mutual agreement has been signed with CAPATEC for the integration of LABFin to the group.
“Being members of this organization allows us to extend our voice to encourage the integration of fintech and blockchain”, said Gonzales.
On the other hand, Gonzales remarked: “We have been to two events in Panama this year and we are in the process of coordinating other workshops.” Our project (ChainZilla) was chosen among the top five startups in Panama and we also made a presentation at CyberTech LATAM. In the last three months we have had a lot of movement”.
Goals and opportunities
For this year, they aim to add a minimum of 20 sponsoring companies to the foundation and five blockchain projects. “We have had eight applications in two months”, said the director of LABFin.
To conclude, he made the following reflection: “The markets are changing faster every day and as a country we have to make the decision how to respond to these changes.” The private and public sector has to align itself in this battle to implement laws that promote education. , development, and the use of new financial technologies LABFin is simply a bridge between different ecosystems”.