Latin American Developers Embrace Established Blockchain Ecosystems

According to Cointelegraph, Latin America's developer community is increasingly focusing on building within established blockchain ecosystems such as Ethereum and Polygon, rather than launching new base-layer protocols. This trend is highlighted in a report by consultancy firm Sherlock Communications, which gathered qualitative inputs from 85 developers across Bolivia, Mexico, Brazil, and Peru. The study reveals that developers in the region prioritize transparency, coordination, and compliance, favoring networks with intuitive tools, strong documentation, and proven track records. Luiz Eduardo Abreu Hadad, a blockchain consultant and researcher at Sherlock Communications, emphasized the technical maturity of Latin American developers and their focus on addressing real-world issues. Despite their capability to create new platforms, Hadad noted that the current reality positions the region as a hub for development and adoption within established ecosystems. Ethereum, for instance, recorded 75% of wallet transactions in Latin America, according to onchain data analysis of 697,000 blockchain transactions tagged to wallets identified in the region between June 2024 and June 2025. Polygon also showed significant activity, representing 11% of the total transactions during the same period, and nearly doubling its activity to 20% by June 2025. While developers are drawn to these established ecosystems, Hadad pointed out that there are local initiatives with global potential, such as tokenization projects and national blockchain infrastructures like Núclea Chain and RBB in Brazil, indicating the region's capacity to create new ecosystems. Looking ahead, the next generation of Latin American developers, including students and hackathon participants, are positioning themselves to focus on decentralized applications (DApps) and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. Hadad mentioned that these newer developers are interested in DApps that can transform social media or the creator economy, as well as supply chain traceability, DePIN, and RWAs. They seek stable ecosystems, intuitive tools, and sustainable economic incentives, aiming to solve real problems related to trust, transparency, and usability.