Share this article
Mercado Libre to Expand Crypto Trading Across Latin America
The company’s Mercado Pago digital wallet began allowing crypto buys and sells in Brazil in December, and quickly nabbed 1 million users.
Updated May 11, 2023, 5:40 p.m. Published Aug 9, 2022, 7:09 p.m.
Mercado Libre, Latin America’s largest e-commerce company by market value, plans to expand its crypto trading feature across the region after a successful start in Brazil.
In December, users of Mercado Pago, Mercado Libre’s digital wallet, were allowed to buy and sell bitcoin, ether and stablecoin in Brazil after an integration with Paxos blockchain infrastructure.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
“We will be expanding in the region the possibility to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies in your account,” Mercado Libre’s fintech vertical director Osvaldo Gimenez told the Spanish newspaper El País. “It works with bitcoin, with ethereum and with a stable currency that reflects the value of the dollar,” he added.
Contacted by CoinDesk, Mercado Libre did not provide details on exactly which countries were next in line for the product or any tentative dates.
Read more: Half of Latin Americans Have Used Cryptocurrencies, Mastercard Survey Shows
The company’s crypto-trading feature became available in Brazil in December and hit 1 million users two months later, according to the story. Last month, Nubank, the largest Brazilian digital bank by market value, said it reached 1 million users on its crypto trading platform just one month after its June launch.
“It is an alternative investment opportunity that we find very interesting and generates a lot of interest from users,” Gimenez said. “At a time when the dollar has been appreciating, the investments that users have with us are small and for us, it is one more way to diversify their portfolio.”
Mercado Libre is an owner of bitcoin, having disclosed a $7.8 million purchase in May 2021. In January of this year, the company announced an investment in 2TM – the holding company for Brazil's largest crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin – and blockchain infrastructure company Paxos.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
French Banking Giant BPCE to Roll Out Crypto Trading for 2M Retail Clients
The service will allow customers to buy and sell BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC through a separate digital asset account managed by Hexarq.
What to know:
- French banking group BPCE will start offering crypto trading services to 2 million retail customers through its Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Épargne apps, with plans to expand to 12 million customers by 2026.
- The service will allow customers to buy and sell BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDC through a separate digital asset account managed by Hexarq, with a €2.99 monthly fee and 1.5% transaction commission.
- The move follows similar initiatives by other European banks, such as BBVA, Santander, and Raiffeisen Bank, which have already started offering crypto trading services to their customers.
Top Stories
