How to invest in US companies from Mexico, Brazil, or Argentina

There is more than one way in

If you live in Mexico, Brazil, or Argentina and want part of your savings to follow companies such as Apple, Microsoft, or NVIDIA, you have several routes. Some run through your local stock exchange, one runs through a brokerage account abroad, and one runs through a wallet. They can follow the same company and still be different instruments, with different rights, costs, currencies, and paperwork.

Whichever route you take, the investment itself carries the same basic risks. A share price can fall a long way and stay down for years. Investor.gov adds the risks that come with crossing a border: exchange rates can raise or reduce your return, and rules, protections, and trading conditions differ from one market to another.

So decide two things separately. First, whether shares belong in your plan at all, and for which money. Second, which route fits the way you already manage your money. This guide is about the second question.

The routes side by side

The table summarizes what you hold on each route and what to check before using it. It describes how the instruments work; it is not a ranking, and availability depends on your country, your provider, and your account.

Through your local exchange: CEDEARs, BDRs, and the SIC

In Argentina, the rules of the securities regulator define a CEDEAR as a certificate representing foreign securities held on deposit, which its holder can ask to exchange for the securities it represents. In Brazil, B3 describes BDRs as certificates representing shares of foreign companies, issued by a depositary institution in Brazil while the underlying shares remain in custody abroad. In Mexico, the stock exchange’s Global Market, known as the SIC, lets investors buy shares and ETFs listed elsewhere in the world, with trading in pesos.

These routes share real advantages. You use a broker and a regulator in your own country, you pay and are paid in your own currency, and you do not need an account abroad. Local tax reporting is usually simpler as well.

They also share one feature that surprises people. A price quoted in pesos or reais reflects two things at once: the share’s price in dollars and the exchange rate. Your position can rise because the company did well or because your currency weakened, and the reverse. A certificate usually represents a fraction or a multiple of one share, so check the ratio before comparing prices.

Through a brokerage account in the United States

An account with a US broker gives you ordinary shares, the full range of listed companies and funds, and prices in dollars. Not every broker accepts residents of every country, and you need a way to send dollars abroad and bring them back, with transfer and conversion costs in each direction.

It also brings US tax rules into your life. The IRS states that most US-source income received by a foreign person, which includes dividends, is taxed at 30% unless a tax treaty or another rule provides a lower rate. Foreign investors use Form W-8BEN to document their status and claim a treaty rate where one exists.

Fewer people know about the estate rule. According to the IRS, the estate of a nonresident who was not a US citizen must file a return when US-situated assets exceed $60,000 at death, and shares of US corporations count as US-situated even when they are held through a nominee. Families who build a meaningful position should get advice on this before the amount grows.

Through tokenized stocks

A tokenized stock is a token from an issuer that tracks the price of a share. It is not a share in a brokerage account. What a holder can claim is set by the issuer’s documents, so those documents matter more than the ticker on the screen.

The tokens available in Lex are Coinbase’s stock tokens. The prospectus explains what holders are entitled to, which identity and eligibility conditions apply before some rights can be exercised, and how events such as dividends are handled. Coinbase describes dividends as generally reinvested through an adjustment to the token after applicable deductions, not paid out as cash to your wallet.

The practical appeal is access: small amounts, no brokerage account abroad, and a holding that stays in a wallet you control. The costs are different in kind. You add issuer risk on top of company risk, prices come from liquidity pools that can be thinner when the US market is closed, and the tokens are not available to US persons or to people in the United States. Tokenized stocks goes through the structure in detail.

How it works in Lex

Download Lex, create your wallet, and complete the identity verification that bank transfers require. Add money by bank transfer through a route available to your account. If the transfer arrives as a local-currency balance, convert it to US Dollar first; that is a separate step with its own quote.

Open the list of stocks and choose a company. Lex lists Coinbase stock tokens for dozens of US-listed companies. Enter an amount between $5 and $1,000 per purchase and read the quote. It shows the rate with costs included and the minimum you will receive. Lex charges no fee to buy or sell; the cost you pay is in the price, through pool fees and the effect of your order on the market. Approve with your passkey, and the holding appears in your self-custodial wallet.

To access your money, request a sell quote, receive US Dollar, and withdraw through a route available to your account. Tokenized stocks are available only to adults who are not US persons and are outside the United States. Availability also depends on your country and on market liquidity, and if Lex cannot produce a valid quote, the trade is unavailable.

An example: the same goal by three routes

Illustrative only; this is not a recommendation or a forecast. Diego lives in Buenos Aires, Camila in São Paulo, and Sofía in Guadalajara. Each wants to put the equivalent of US$100 a month toward a few large US companies and leave it alone for ten years.

Diego already has an account with a local broker. CEDEARs let him invest in pesos with a provider he knows. He checks each certificate’s ratio and understands that its peso price will move with the exchange rate as well as with the company.

Camila is thinking about a larger amount over time and likes the idea of holding ordinary shares. She looks at a US brokerage account and, before opening it, asks an accountant about dividend withholding, Brazilian reporting, and the US estate threshold.

Sofía already keeps part of her savings in dollars in her wallet and wants to start with small amounts. She reads the issuer’s documents, compares a buy quote and a sell quote in Lex to see the round-trip cost, and buys tokenized stocks in several companies instead of one. None of the three is wrong. Each matched the route to money they already manage and to questions they had actually answered.

Questions that settle the choice

What will I hold: a share, a certificate, or a token, and who stands behind it? In which currency will I see my gains and losses, and does that match what I am saving for? What does a complete round trip cost, from my bank account to the investment and back?

What happens to dividends, and which taxes apply where I live? How would I sell, and how long would it take to reach money I can spend? What would my family need to do to access this holding if something happened to me?

If you cannot answer one of these for a route, treat that as a reason to wait. Keep money you will need soon out of shares altogether, spread what you invest across several companies, and expect to hold for years. This guide is general information, not investment, legal, or tax advice.