Mercado Libre, the largest e-commerce company in South America by market capitalization, has launched its own cryptocurrency in Brazil, where it currently has a strong presence, in a "pilot test" format.. The currency is called Mercado Coin and can be used to make purchases on Mercado Libre, and it will also be possible to receive it in the form of cash back on purchases.
Mercado Coin has been available in a trial version since last Thursday, August 18 in Brazil, where it is planned that up to 500.000 of the company's clients will be able to access this new cryptocurrency, which is also part of the Mercado Libre loyalty program. The company expects this crypto to be available to its 80 million clients in Brazil by the end of August.
In addition, Mercado Libre has also explained that they plan to introduce this crypto in other countries in the near future. Mercado Coin will be able to be traded in the company's digital wallet, with an initial price of 10 cents.
The volume of cryptocurrencies that will be distributed to users will be linked to the growth in the number of sales on Mercado Libre and the value of the asset in the future will be subject to market fluctuations. In addition, the management and custody of these tokens will be handled by the Argentine FinTech Ripio.
Company sources explain that it is an open and very secure solution and that Mercado Libre has considered it essential to join this revolution of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, since they believe in all the potential that these tools have.
Last December, Mercado Libre launched a crypto trading feature in Brazil. This product reached one million users in two months. The company also has on its roadmap the launch of this same product for all of Latin America in the coming months.
Maybe you are interested: Mercado Libre plans to expand Bitcoin trading in Latin America.
What is Mercado Coin, the cryptocurrency of Mercado Libre?
First of all we must know that Mercado Coin has been developed using the ERC-20 token standard on the Ethereum blockchain. In the first phase of the project, users will not be able to transfer this token to external wallets.
This cryptocurrency can be used to make purchases on Mercado Libre, but unlike what happens with other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH), at first it is not planned for this cryptocurrency to be listed on any exchange.
The company plans to expand the availability of Mercado Coin to customers in other markets in Latin America in the future, although there are no specific dates on the calendar for these launches yet. In addition to Brazil, MercadoCoin is expected to reach Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
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