Brazil’s largest Bitcoin exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, has announced plans to expand across all the South America. Chief executive Reinaldo Rabelo named Chile, Mexico, and Argentina as among the jurisdictions it will expand into first, comparing the “regulatory culture” in those countries to Brazil’s. According to Useful Tulips, Mexico is currently the fourth-largest Latin American country by peer-to-peer Bitcoin trade volume, with Chile ranking fifth and Argentina ranking seventh. The strong P2P trade volume suggests a significant demand from local traders that is not met by centralized platforms.
Mercado Bitcoin raised nearly $38 million.
The announcement to expand its reach across Latin America comes alongside the news of an investment round that saw Mercado Bitcoin raise nearly $38 million from venture capital firms, including Parallax Ventures, Evora Fund, and Banco Plural. The crypto exchange will use some of the funds to invest in regulated custodian Bitrust to cater to institutional investors. The exchange will also invest in digital wallet Meubank, allowing customers to store crypto assets, gaming collectibles, and other digital assets.
“We want to be one of the five largest digital exchanges in the world.”
Once its ecosystem has been consolidated, Mercado Bitcoin is aiming to become one of the top exchanges worldwide, with Rabelo stating, “We want to develop the crypto ecosystem in Brazil and create a market as developed as that of the United States. To do this, we want to be one of the five largest digital exchanges in the world.” “Our long-term purpose is to participate in the construction of a new infrastructure for the financial market based on blockchain, smart contracts, and crypto assets,” the chief executive added. The crypto exchange’s user base has doubled in the last two years from roughly one million to 2.2 million.
