Mercado Libre's online payments platform, Mercado Pago, is considering integrating cryptocurrency payments, shipping and storage, MercadoLibre president Osvaldo Gimenez said.
What we inspect with the "El Bailador" road simulator: interview In Bloomberg Línea, the FinTech president of MercadoLibre and CEO of Mercado Pago in Latin America Osvaldo Gimenez, reported that MercadoLibre's online payment platform and application, Mercado Pago, is considering its entry into the world of cryptocurrencies, and digital assets.
According to his statements, “in some way” Mercado Pago will participate in cryptocurrency payments and shipments, which are becoming the revolution and the future of finance globally. Gimenez pointed out that the boom in digital payments in Argentina and the world, and the growth that companies such as Paypal and Square are experiencing, which integrate cryptocurrencies through their payment applications Venmo and Cash App, are leading the company to consider the integration of these digital assets into their services.
Mercado Pago is one of the most used payment applications in Latin America, with nearly 12 million active registered users by the end of 2020. According to statistics According to Statista, Mercado Pago moved nearly $29.800 billion in payments between merchants and companies, processing 1.910 billion transactions throughout 2020.
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Cryptocurrency potential
Gimenez explains that in the last 20 years, e-commerce and digital payments have advanced significantly. However, with the advent of cryptocurrencies, the digitization of payments has accelerated even further, prompting businesses to adopt this new form of cross-border digital money. For this reason, the FinTech president of MercadoLibre indicated that he is “closely analyzing” the holding and sending of cryptocurrencies through its online payment platform.
On the other hand, Gimenez highlighted that the fact that MercadoLibre invested in bitcoins during the first quarter of the year is a sign of the company's confidence in the potential of new technologies. Specifically, Gimenez noted that the company is convinced that there is very great potential in cryptocurrencies.
“This start to buy cryptocurrencies shows that we are convinced that there is a very great potential.”
MercadoLibre invests in bitcoin
As reported by Bit2Me News, MercadoLibre's financial report for the first quarter of the year showed an investment of almost 8 million dollars in Bitcoin (BTC), the largest and most important cryptocurrency in the industry by capitalization.
At that time, the company reported that the integration of cryptocurrencies into its treasuries corresponds to a new long-term investment and diversification strategy. The sale of real estate in cryptocurrencies is also something that the company is considering in Argentina, trusting in the potential of these assets as a haven of value.
MercadoLibre reached a valuation of more than $100.000 billion, becoming one of the four Argentine unicorns.
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