LATAM E-Commerce Giant to Allow its Millions of Users to Buy, Store, & Sell Crypto via Digital Wallet
MercadoLibre is the latest company to join crypto as soon it will offer its customers in Brazil the ability to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies using its digital payments app.
MercadoLibre is the largest Latin American company by market cap, and through crypto, it is expanding its financial products.
The crypto feature was already available to a select small group of clients earlier this month and will be rolled out broadly in the coming months, said vice president Tulio Oliveira. Mercado Pago’s digital wallet has 16.8 million unique users as of the third quarter of 2021.
The news was first reported by Bloomberg, which was retweeted by Mercado Libre co-founder and CEO Marcos Galperin, who also said that users of both Mercado Livre, the Brazilian branch, and its fintech arm Mercado Pago would be able to “buy, store and sell crypto” starting this week.
Allá vamos! https://t.co/b7lTDp1cGD
— Marcos Galperin (@marcos_galperin) November 22, 2021
The company has been planning its crypto move for months now as back in August, President Osvaldo Gimenez said Bitcoin and Ethereum “could be a revolution in finance.”
Before that, in May, MercadoLibre had also disclosed its $7.8 million Bitcoin purchase as part of the treasury strategy. Prior to that, its Argentine real estate platform started accepting BTC for the purchase and sale of properties.
In a statement on Monday, MercadoLibre said that it was entering the crypto space in Brazil together with “a world-class custodian” but didn’t mention who it is partnering with. The company is “analyzing all financial and regulatory aspects surrounding this technology,” it added.
AnTy
