Beginning in December, users of Mercado Pago will be able to purchase and trade bitcoin, ether, and the USDP stablecoin.
Mercado Libre, Latin America’s biggest e-commerce firm by market capitalization, said Thursday that it is integrating Paxos’ blockchain technology to enable customers in Brazil to buy, trade, and store cryptocurrencies.
Users of Mercado Pago, Mercado Libre’s digital wallet, will be able to purchase and trade bitcoin, ether, and the stablecoin Pax dollar (USDP) later this month, according to Mercado Libre. A transaction will need a minimum of 1 Brazilian real, it added.
Paxos will manage crypto trading and custody for Mercado Pago customers in a manner similar to its integration with PayPal in late 2020 – a service largely seen as hastening the mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies in the United States and elsewhere.
Mercado Libre told CoinDesk last week that it was entering the Brazilian cryptocurrency market with “a world-class custodian,” and that it was “analysing the financial and regulatory elements of this technology.”
It announced Thursday in response to a CoinDesk enquiry that the crypto service will start in December but did not provide a date.
The new project from Mercado Pago will enable crypto and stablecoin access to more than 200 million Brazilians, according to a statement from Walter Hessert, Paxos’ director of strategy. “This will hasten the adoption of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins by the general public throughout the continent. We are delighted to collaborate with Mercado Pago to make this a reality,” he said.
“The whole administration of cryptocurrency may be done from a free account, giving access to new chances for financial development, particularly for individuals who are now excluded from the financial system,” Tulio Oliveira, vice president of Mercado Pago in Brazil, said in a statement.
According to the business, the Mercado Pago app will give bitcoin, ether, and USDP pricing, as well as instructional information regarding the three cryptocurrencies.
“The material will focus on the crypto asset ecosystem, as well as the potential and hazards inherent with cryptocurrency investment,” the business noted.
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