Report: Gen Z in Chile Is Mostly Digital and Crypto-Native

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Kushki, an Ecuador-based fintech company, has revealed that more than half of all centennials in Chile use digital means to settle their payments and are knowledgeable about crypto and its uses.

Centennials in Chile Are Familiar With Digital and Crypto Settlements

Latam is quickly leaning towards tech-based and digital settlement platforms, including fiat and crypto services. Kushki, an Ecuador-based but Latam-focused payment company, has revealed that almost 60% of all the centennials in Chile use digital payments and are aware of crypto assets.

In its “Payments in Latin America in 2025: From Inclusion to Sophistication, the Evolving Payments Ecosystem” report, the payment provider found that Chile’s Gen Z has been deeply penetrated by digital and crypto settlements, with nearly 30% using digital money exclusively.

This phenomenon persists despite Chile not having established a cryptocurrency regulatory framework, unlike some neighboring countries such as El Salvador and Brazil.

Kushli stated:

In Chile, the real-time payment system program has been in place since 2008, but debit, credit, and prepaid cards continue to dominate the market, accounting for nearly 66% of household spending. As RTPs expand throughout Latin America, we are seeing a steady decline in cash use and a shift toward more digital and immediate transactions.

Chile has demonstrated a strong appetite for cryptocurrency, with reports indicating that by 2024, over $105 billion had been traded by Chilean users. This figure surpasses the trading volumes of Colombian and Argentine traders. On average, Chilean traders invested more than 50% of their monthly income in crypto.

Kushki assessed that real-time payment systems based on fiat are not the final form of the region’s economic settlement system, but the base for a more open, competitive, and dynamic financial ecosystem.

In January, a group of Chilean lawmakers convened to create the first bitcoin bench in Congress and planned the establishment of a national bitcoin reserve. Nonetheless, the central bank of Chile has rejected this idea, refusing to include BTC as a reserve asset due to its high volatility.

Read more: Chile Quiere Bitcoin: Legislators Rally Around Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Proposal

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