LATAM Funds Large Mercado Pago Launches Contemporary Crypto Adoption Drive

The Latin American e-commerce heavyweight Mercado Libre has taken one other step into the world of crypto – and pays its prospects to refer pals to the crypto buying and selling service on Mercado Pago, its e-pay app.

Mercado Libre is usually dubbed the LATAM Amazon, and has a whole lot of thousands and thousands of customers throughout the area. It started accepting bitcoin (BTC) as a method of fee again in 2021.

Its funds app Mercado Pago has crypto buying and selling capabilities, and permits prospects to purchase and promote BTC, in addition to ethereum (ETH) and stablecoins.

And in a bid to spice up adoption, Mercado Pago said that its crypto-trading prospects would obtain BRL 10 (round $2) in credit score for every fellow Mercado Pago consumer they “introduce” to the corporate’s crypto buying and selling options.

Per the media outlet Livecoins, customers had been advised that they may invite as much as 10 pals to make use of the platform – and choose up a most of BRL 100 (roughly $20) within the course of. Buyer accounts might be credited with the funds inside 72 hours of the invitee’s first crypto buy on the platform.

Mercado Pago additionally claimed that “greater than 2 million customers” have bought cryptoassets on its platform in Brazil and Mexico.

Mercado Libre: What’s Behind the Crypto Adoption Push?

In January 2022, Marcado Libre invested within the crypto alternate platforms Mercado Bitcoin and Paxos, two of LATAM’s largest gamers. These partnerships have rapidly borne fruit: Mercado Pago’s personal crypto capabilities are powered by Paxos.

Late final yr, Mercado Pago launched a “crypto instructional marketing campaign” – in a bid to assist its prospects study extra about crypto.

Mercado Libre’s Argentinean CEO, Marcus Galperin, is a notable crypto advocate. In 2021, he opined that bitcoin was a greater retailer of worth than gold. In summer season final yr, Mercado Libre launched an Ethereum-based ERC-20 cryptoasset named Mercado Coin to be used in its loyalty packages.

On the time, Galperin known as coin a “step towards democratizing monetary inclusion in Latin America.”