Mercado Pago, the digital banking arm of Latin America’s largest company, Mercado Libre, announced on Wednesday the launch of a U.S. dollar-tied stablecoin in Brazil. This move aims to provide Mercado Pago users in Brazil with a practical and stable option for financial management, allowing them to buy and sell the Meli Dollar stablecoin using their Brazilian reais account balances without incurring any fees.
This is not Mercado Libre’s first foray into the crypto world. In August 2022, the company launched its cryptocurrency, Mercado Coin, enabling users to make purchases on the marketplace and receive cash back. Prior to that, Mercado Libre integrated Paxos’ blockchain infrastructure with Mercado Pago, allowing users in Brazil to buy, sell, and hold bitcoin, ether, and Paxos’ stablecoin, Pax dollar (USDP).
Latin American crypto company Ripio will serve as the market maker for transactions made on Mercado Pago. Ripio, which operates a trading platform and a wallet in the region, among other services, had previously collaborated with Mercado Pago to develop Mercado Coin.
Mercado Libre’s launch of a stablecoin comes approximately one year after U.S.-based PayPal introduced its dollar-based stablecoin, PYUSD, which has recently approached a $1 billion market cap.
