TL;DR Breakdown
- Mercado Libre is venturing into the crypto space through a digital payment app.
- A lot has gone into research and study to learn the viability and success of the project.
- The firm is allowing clients to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies.
Mercado Libre, an online retailer in South America, is allowing Brazilians to invest in crypto. The giant e-commerce organization sees this as an expansion to the crypto space. The opportunities given to clients include buying, selling, and holding virtual assets.
Reports from Bloomberg state that the announcement came in November. The CEO Marcos Galperin took to Twitter to create more awareness for clients. Since then, the opportunity has been available to a few clients, and soon, it will roll out to everybody.
The company is stepping up its foray into the crypto space in the coming weeks. Officials are optimistic the digital payment app will be a success. They say they activated the feature after comprehensive research.
The firm’s vice president, Tulio Oliveira, said they did a study before going into cryptos. He further claims that the move is iconic. Thus it opens several opportunities to Mercado Libre. He is sure they will tap on the vast bitcoin clientele in Latin America.
Mercado Libre has world class custodian
In a statement, the firm said that they are entering into the Brazilian crypto space with a great manager. Yet, it didn’t announce who is this world-class custodian. The team also said that its experts are analyzing the Brazilian regulations. From Mercado Libre’s point of view, they are not taking any chances with the project.
The company is only using Brazil as a first stop. Yet, their main intention is to conquer entire Latin America. Currently, there is rising interest in virtual assets within the region. So, the firm wants to leverage it.
The firm has been teasing crypto enthusiasts. In May, the firm purchased $7.8 Million worth of cryptocurrency. They said that was their strategy to keep the treasury aloft. The giant online retailer made the bitcoin purchase alongside Tesla and Microstrategy.
Mercado Pago’s digital wallet
Before buying bitcoin, the firm’s real estate branch in Argentina allowed sales in BTC. The firm selected a small section for the transaction of properties in bitcoin.
Mercado Pago has 16.8 million unique users on its digital wallet. This information came from the firm’s third-quarter report for the year 2021.
Marcos, the CEO of the online retail platform, holds that cryptos have great potential. He feels that cryptocurrency can help retain currency value.
For a long time, the company has always favoured cryptos. In some instances, it allowed clients to make purchases using BTC.
The retailer firm will leverage South America’s rising interest in cryptos. The potential of Bitcoin in Latin America is great. For example, El Salvador declared bitcoin a legal tender. Thus, they are comfortable using it in their daily transactions.
Besides, many states might follow suit and adopt crypto as their legal tender. Cryptocurrency has proven to be a solution to inflation and unbanked masses.
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