Lemon battles inflation with access to digital dollars

The opportunity

Local currency in Argentina is losing value quickly due to high inflation, and many workers lack access to a stable store of value that can also be spent locally.

The solution

Lemon allows users to convert their paycheck into a dollar-denominated asset (USDC) for savings and then convert it back to local currency right at the point of sale via a prepaid Visa debit card.

200x

Growth in active users since 2021

Growth in USDC holders on Lemon in less than 6 months

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Lemon is an Argentina-based crypto exchange and digital wallet that operates in seven Latin American countries. They integrate traditional finance with crypto for their 2.2M users to empower them with better financial services.

Products

USDC

Regions

Argentina

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Combatting the impact of inflation with access to dollars

Over the past couple of years the Argentine peso experienced more than 100% annual inflation, dramatically reducing the value of savings and purchasing power for everyday citizens.

Many Argentinian workers receive their paychecks in Argentine pesos. Converting those pesos to US dollars would be a desirable way to retain the value of their hard-earned money, but it’s not feasible to open US dollar bank accounts because of government capital controls.

USDC is a digital dollar that people can hold without needing a dollar bank account. Lemon saw an opportunity to provide USDC as a way for users to safely store their money in a dollar-equivalent asset and still spend it locally. Because USDC is responsibly and transparently managed, Lemon could confidently recommend it to users as a dollar substitute.

Lemon story

By making a stable currency available to users and allowing them to easily spend it in their day-to-day lives Lemon grew 200x in a period of just 2 years. Partnering with Circle to educate users about the benefits of USDC, Lemon saw USDC use double in the 3rd quarter of 2023 alone.

Providing trusted, transparent digital dollars

Lemon enabled users of its Lemon Cash app to quickly and easily convert their Argentine peso paycheck into USDC.

By holding USDC, users can avoid the volatile fluctuations of other crypto assets like Bitcoin or Ether. This is because each USDC is backed by a dollar that’s held in cash or cash equivalent assets in the custody of leading global banks. The reserves backing USDC are independently verified by a Big 4 accounting firm and transparently reported for anyone to see. In practice, this means that USDC can always be redeemed 1:1 for US dollars.

Lemon users can spend their USDC via a linked Visa debit card, meaning that USDC can easily be used to pay for goods and services locally and internationally. When a user spends USDC Lemon converts the funds back to Argentine pesos on the backend. This allows users to store their money in a dollar-equivalent asset until the moment they’re ready to spend it, minimizing the time the money sits in pesos losing value. To further build trust, Lemon provides users real-time proof of reserves and solvency so they can verify the amount and location of their assets under custody.

Lemon’s explosive growth

Today, Lemon is the second largest digital asset exchange in Argentina with more than two million users. In 2021, before the release of their debit card, their user base was less than 10,000. Their rapid growth is a result of their realization that digital currencies could be more than a speculative investment - they could be a lifeline for a population that didn’t have any other good way to save money and build wealth.

By the numbers