Mercadolibre has made investments in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency businesses. It will now have Mercadocoin as its own cryptocurrency.
The launch of a new cryptocurrency dubbed MercadoCoin, which will be integrated into its loyalty program, was announced by MercadoLibre Inc., a global e-commerce firm with headquarters in Latin America, on August 18.
According to Reuters, the cryptocurrency would function as an ERC-20 token with a $0.10 price tag on the Ethereum network. It will mostly be used to make purchases on the MercadoLibre marketplace and get cashback.
The developers also made passing mention of maybe introducing the token to the secondary market in the future but did not elaborate:
“MercadoLibre’s cryptocurrency will be initially valued at $0.10 apiece before being open to market fluctuation.”
There will be 80 million MercadoCoin accounts available.
More than 500,000 Brazilian consumers will have access to the cryptocurrency beginning on August 18. By the end of the month, the team hopes to have at least 80 million users using it.
The organization does not currently have any intentions to expand to other areas since it would be difficult to adhere to all the many regulatory requirements needed to do business there.
Given how the politics around cryptocurrency varies throughout Latin America, this is of the highest significance. El Salvador, Brazil, and Venezuela are nations that are more supportive of cryptocurrencies, whilst Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile take the opposite attitude.
The new project, according to MercadoLibre CEO and founder Marcos Galperin, will strengthen the company’s loyalty program and “democratize financial inclusion in Latin America,” he stated through his official Twitter account.
Mercadolibre Continues to Bet on the Bitcoin Market
According to a recent report, MercadoLibre entered the cryptocurrency market last year when it released a wallet that let Brazilian customers purchase and sell cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Tether (USDT).
Osvaldo Gimenez, CEO of Mercado Pago, however, said earlier this week that they will extend this service to the whole Region, enabling all customers to store, trade, or purchase cryptocurrencies without the need for intermediary banks, exchanges, or brokers.
“We will be expanding in the Region the possibility to buy, sell and have cryptocurrencies in your account. It works with Bitcoin, Ethereum and stable currency that reflects the value of the dollar.”
For individuals searching for an alternative to fiat currency, Gimenez claims that adopting cryptocurrencies via MercadoPago will have a significant influence on the region since many people are either unbanked or just use them to withdraw cash.
“It is an alternative investment opportunity that we find very interesting and generates a lot of interest from users. At a time when the dollar has been appreciating, the investments that users have with us are small and for us it’s one more way to diversify their portfolio.”
Along with MercadoCoin and the cryptocurrency wallet, Mercadolibre has also made investments in Bitcoin as a business, Paxos, one of Brazil’s major cryptocurrency exchanges, and MercadoPago, the fintech division of the now-defunct Libra Association.
