Why LATAM? Why Us?

It's not a novelty that regions with emerging and developing markets —among them, Latin America— are becoming hot spots within the web3 ecosystem. This is likely due to a combination of positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, the economic, political, and social contexts of regions like LATAM tend to be challenging: complex State regulatory frameworks, high taxes, high inflation rates, political instability, weak democracies, issues related to social inclusion, and other situations present an intricate background in a region that, besides, is a mosaic in itself. Despite being initially negative, this landscape also serves as a significant opportunity to stimulate creativity, sacrifice, efforts, and partnerships to overcome complex situations and find novel solutions. After all, creativity is born out of necessity, and crises often represent a crossroad of opportunities.

Within this equation, and focused on driving changes into the future, there are projects born within the web3 ecosystem. Our ecosystem, as we know, is not free from problems and challenges: scalability issues, a constant need for innovation and new talents, decentralization, breaking into new markets, tough relationships with increasingly restrictive regulatory frameworks in many countries, crafting a narrative that appeals to retail users, and more.

At Atoma, we believe that these two elements —projects within the Ethereum ecosystem and emerging regions like LATAM— need each other, and there are strong possibilities to create a symbiotic and virtuous relationship between them. A region like ours can greatly benefit from the self-governance, emancipation, and financial independence offered by projects like Ethereum. On the other hand, the ecosystem can nourish itself, learn, and expand its horizons of applicability by engaging with contexts like the Latin American one. This interaction can lead to new ideas, new users seeking alternatives, talents, developers, ReFi projects, and a larger pool that enhances the decentralization and democracy of web3 as a whole.

With this relationship and its potential in mind, and focusing now on the specific relationship that can be established between the Ethereum ecosystem and LATAM, it is crucial to highlight how the Community Values proposed within the Ethereum ethos deeply align with everything we have made explicit:

• We believe that Ethereum must play a leading role in shaping the future of the world and regions like ours, given its fundamental characteristics that set it apart from other proposals in the ecosystem. LATAM must strengthen its ties and future with the Ethereum Community and become Ethereum-aligned in itself.
• The vision of sustainability proposed by Ethereum cannot overlook the fact that, precisely in pursuit of this value and considering a long-term project, it needs to expand its user network and community worldwide. We understand that this expansion can be driven not only by its core scalability solutions but also by products that might be considered secondary but could be of great interest in emerging regions.
• Regarding social inclusive aspects, the statement "differences in knowledge, resources, geography, language, and life experience should be seen as opportunities to learn and to grow the community" is crystal clear and precisely relates to what we just have stated at the beginning. In this sense, LATAM is a mosaic of regions, peoples, languages, opportunities, and needs, and a symbiotic relationship between the Ethereum ecosystem and LATAM would be extremely powerful and beneficial for both parties.
• Another aspect particularly relevant to LATAM is related to technological inclusivity and a user-focused approach. We understand that Ethereum doesn't position itself as an elitist network, closed and reluctant, and looking to remain in a privileged niche. On the contrary, it sees itself as a network aspiring to work closely with those who propose innovative ideas and want to actively participate and be part of the community, regardless of their income level or technological accessibility. This deeply resonates with many aspects of current realities in Latin America.
• Additionally, the neutral and open aspect and the proposition that Ethereum "should not pick winners and losers, but should foster open innovation, interoperation, user choice, and healthy competition on its chains" aligns with a value sought after in LATAM: a region that has been plagued by authoritarianism and arbitrariness from governments, organizations, and companies. An essential part of the potential of the web3 ecosystem in the region must be understood in its values of inclusion, fair competition, democracy, cooperation, and open participation. These values are not just a demand but also a horizon, a way of life, and a way of thinking for societies like those in Latin America.

Now, how can this symbiosis and feedback loop between Ethereum and LATAM be achieved? At Atoma, we believe that the most powerful route is through adoption via education. But what do we mean by education? Within this concept, we include aspects related to branding and growth approaches. We believe that the web3 ecosystem and projects within the Ethereum community should be as open as possible. They should engage with societies to offer their incredible potential and, in the process, build an increasingly active, innovative, and participatory community. This will ultimately enrich the entire Ethereum community and shape a more self-sufficient, decentralized, and liberated future.

However, achieving this requires crafting appropriate narratives where the project's foundations, potential, products, services, and opportunities can be understood by various audiences. This asks for a deep understanding of different regions, issues, needs, and possibilities that make up the Latin American landscape, spanning economic, cultural, and socio-political aspects. Subsequently, these insights should be utilized through various communicative, educational, and advertising strategies, both digitally and on platforms, as well as in-person and live settings, considering always diverse audiences.

At Atoma, we are not only deeply embedded in the reality of our region, but we are also passionate about what we do. With a very enriching experience from projects like MakerDAO, educational institutions, wallets, and organizing Ethereum events, we believe that through partnerships and collaboration with projects of significant value and potential within the Ethereum ecosystem, we can contribute to the construction of a future that aligns with our aspirations.