AgenteBTC

AgenteBTC is a Peruvian centralized cryptocurrency exchange that gives retail users across Latin America a direct, low-barrier route to buy, sell, and hold digital assets using local currency, including Solana.

What It Is

AgenteBTC was founded in September 2019 by Victor Egoavil in Lima, Peru, with a public launch in February 2020. The platform was purpose-built for the Peruvian market and aims to make cryptocurrency accessible to a population underserved by traditional finance. Its stated mission, "Connecting all LATAM with one wallet," reflects a regional ambition that extends well beyond Peru: the exchange offers over-the-counter (OTC) services to customers in Colombia, Mexico, Honduras, and other Latin American countries.

The company's early focus was deliberately narrow. Rather than competing head-to-head with global exchanges from day one, AgenteBTC targeted Bitcoin specifically and worked to win the Peruvian market first. That local-first strategy appears to have paid off: the platform expanded to support eight digital assets and generated approximately $700,000 in revenue in 2024. In December 2024, Tether Investments Limited, the entity behind the world's largest stablecoin, made a seed-round investment in AgenteBTC, signaling USDT's central role in the platform's growth plan for the region.

Core Mechanism

AgenteBTC operates a hybrid model that distinguishes it from purely online exchanges. The platform pairs a web-based trading interface with an extensive physical reload network. Through a partnership with Agente KasNet, users can fund their accounts at more than 13,000 reload points across Peru, effectively turning a corner store or pharmacy into an on-ramp to the crypto economy. This infrastructure matters significantly in markets where credit-card penetration is low and many potential users lack a traditional bank account.

The trading workflow is straightforward. Users create an account, pass identity verification (KYC), and then deposit funds via local bank transfer (free for BCP and Interbank accounts) or through the KasNet cash network. Once funded, they can place buy or sell orders on any supported asset. Settlement is fast, with users reporting deposits becoming tradeable within 15 to 20 minutes. Withdrawals return fiat to the user's verified bank account.

AgenteBTC also runs an OTC desk for larger institutional or wholesale trades, serving corporate clients across the wider LATAM region.

Supported Assets

The exchange lists eight cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Polygon (MATIC).

SOL is available for direct purchase and sale against Peruvian soles, making AgenteBTC one of the few fiat on-ramps for Solana accessible to everyday Peruvian users. For holders who want to move into or out of the Solana ecosystem without routing through a global exchange, AgenteBTC provides that path using local currency and familiar payment rails.

Fees

The fee structure is transparent and comparatively simple: a 1% trading commission per transaction, free local bank deposits (Interbank and BCP), a 3% fee on SWIFT international deposits, a $1 flat fee on local and interbank withdrawals, a 1% fee on SWIFT withdrawals, and a $15 minimum trade size.

KYC and Regulatory Context

AgenteBTC requires full identity verification before users can trade. The platform monitors transactions for suspicious activity and applies anti-money-laundering controls. As of recent reporting, Peru has not established a formal regulatory framework for crypto exchanges, so AgenteBTC has operated under self-imposed compliance standards rather than direct government supervision. The company has publicly positioned itself as working constructively alongside the Peruvian government as local regulation develops, and was described in early media coverage as the only crypto company working across the Peruvian government.

In 2020, AgenteBTC was selected for Startup Peru 8G, a government-backed accelerator program run through USIL Ventures, providing early institutional validation in its home market. The December 2024 seed round from Tether Investments Limited adds a second layer of credibility from a major player in the global stablecoin market.

Team and History

Victor Egoavil founded AgenteBTC in September 2019. The platform launched publicly to retail users in February 2020 and was bootstrapped at launch, with the team actively seeking Series A funding through 2020. Revenue of approximately $700,000 in 2024 with a reported four-person team points to a lean, founder-operated business.

The founding coincided with a period when most crypto exchanges operating in the Andean region were either international platforms with poor local payment support or nascent local operations with limited asset coverage. AgenteBTC carved out its niche by combining genuine local banking integrations, a large cash-reload network, and a user experience targeting first-time buyers.

Solana Fit

AgenteBTC's inclusion of SOL in its tradable asset list gives Peruvian and broader LATAM users a compliant, fiat-denominated path into the Solana ecosystem. For a network whose DeFi applications and trading volume concentrate among users who already hold crypto, accessible on-ramps in emerging markets are a genuine growth lever. AgenteBTC addresses exactly that gap: a user in Lima who wants to buy SOL with soles and move it to a self-custody wallet or a Solana DeFi protocol can do so through a KYC-compliant platform in minutes, without needing a credit card or a foreign bank account.

The Tether seed round also suggests that AgenteBTC's role in the USDT-denominated stablecoin economy is expected to grow. USDT is the dominant stablecoin in LATAM, and platforms that reliably convert local fiat to USDT and from USDT to assets like SOL function as infrastructure layers for the wider crypto ecosystem across the region.