Mercado Libre (one of the most prominent retailers in Latam) has stated that it intends to extend its cryptocurrency trading services into more countries. The company’s cryptocurrency services, which are available only to Brazilian customers through Mercado Pago (its payments and digital wallet), has already served more than 1,000,000 customers.
Mercado Libre Expands Crypto Offerings in Latam
Latam is seeing more companies expand their cryptocurrency services. Mercado Libre (one of the most prominent Latam retailers) plans to increase its services in cryptocurrency to cover more countries within the region. Osvaldo Gimenez, head of Mercado Pago, Mercado Libre’s digital payments and wallet service, informed El Pais about these plans. He declared:
There will soon be more opportunities to purchase, sell or have cryptocurrency in your account. You can use it with bitcoin and ethereum, as well as the fixed currency which reflects the dollar’s value.
This company launched the services for Brazil’s first time in February. Within two months, it managed to register a total of one million clients in alternative investments. USDP is the stablecoin used by this service. It’s backed Paxos (a New York-based financial company that provides services to clients), and it can be pegged at dollars.
Gimenez, however, did not provide any details about the expansion or what countries would be involved in it.
Cryptocurrency and its Importance
The current economic state in the region means that many Latam country are using crypto and stablecoins to preserve their buying power due to high inflation and low devaluation. Gimenez discussed the value of the instruments offered by Mercado Pago. He said:
This is an alternate investment opportunity we are very interested in and that attracts much interest from our users. The investments users make with us at this time of dollar appreciation are very small. It is a way to diversify one’s portfolio.
Mercado Libre is up against a number of other companies, which have expanded their offerings to include crypto trading for customers from countries outside of Latam like Argentina or Mexico. Nubank, an online bank platform that offers crypto trading, launched a similar solution in May. The offering was extended to all customers of Latam which are estimated to total 54 million. Santander reported recently that traditional banks have begun to invest in crypto services.
What do you think about Mercado Libre’s crypto trading services expansion in Latam? Leave a comment below.
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