Today, Latin America’s online market place Mercado Libre, announced the introduction of its cryptocurrency: Mercado Coin
For customers in Brazil, the company has introduced Mercado Coin as an ERC20 token—the accepted standard for tokens made using the Ethereum blockchain. As an outcome, customers will be able to use the marketplace to earn cashback rewards.
It is currently accessible to 500,000 users in Brazil, and by the end of the month, it is anticipated to be made available to the company’s 80 million-plus customers.
The company told Reuters that it is uncertain as to when it will introduce the money in more regions of Latin America. However, it won’t be exchanged outside MercadoPago for the time being.
Despite the economic recession that affected much of the rest of the world and Latin America earlier this month, MercadoLibre reported record revenues.
Mercado Libre and Crypto Industry
Since the inception of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency as a tool to streamline business processes and connect people, Mercado Libre has been in charge of global growth. The business has been moving in this direction recently by making strides like these:
- It occurs as a crypto store of value for $30M;
- It launched a website in Argentina with real estate publications whose vendors consent to conduct business using bitcoins;
- To encourage the growth and application of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in the industry, it made investments in two businesses in the space: Paxos and Mercado Bitcoin;
- It started providing a service to buy, sell, and deposit cryptocurrencies from Mercado Pago in Brazil in December 2021, enabling simple and open access for all users.
