Mercado Libre Broadens Crypto Offerings in Brazil

Latin American e-commerce company has launched a token aimed at generating crypto rewards as cashback on purchases

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • Mercado Libre’s MercadoCoin is available to 500,000 users, with a further 80 million expected by month’s end
  • The token lets users earn crypto rewards as cashback on purchases and pay for goods on Mercado’s e-commerce platform

Latin American e-commerce company Mercado Libre has launched a token in Brazil, aimed at generating crypto cashback rewards on purchases, as well as the ability to pay for goods on its platform.

Dubbed MercadoCoin, the Ethereum-based token is tradable via the company’s digital payments platform, Mercado Pago. The endeavor is part of its loyalty program, designed to attract and retain customers.

Reuters first reported the news on Thursday, citing a press conference. Blockworks attempted to contact Mercado but did not immediately receive a response.

Mercado’s crypto pursuits can be viewed as a savvy play on the region’s high adoption rates of digital assets. Latin America has continued to capture between 8% and 10% of global cryptocurrency activity, according to Chainalysis’ research, reported in March.

Emerging markets face considerable currency devaluation resulting from high rates of inflation, driving locals to purchase crypto on P2P platforms in a bid to preserve their savings.

While crypto valuations have been impacted by the recent market rout spurred on by overleveraged lenders and a swing to bearish sentiment, the nascent asset class’s popularity in the region remains high.

The e-commerce giant began offering users access to bitcoin, ether and Paxos’ stablecoin PAX in December of last year after it partnered with the crypto service provider. Mercado also purchased a stake for an undisclosed sum in crypto exchange MercadoBitcoin.com.br’s parent holding company 2TM and Paxos as a shareholder in January.

MercadoCoin is expected to be valued at $0.10 before being floated on the open market, Reuters reported. The crypto is available to 500,000 customers in Brazil, where it is anticipated to reach more than 80 million people by the end of the month.

The company also said the token will only be available to Brazilian nationals, with no timeframe given on an expansion to other Latin American countries. Despite using the ERC-20 token standard, trading will be limited to its Mercado Pago platform until further notice, Reuters reported.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

A 40% allocation to crypto today is safer than a 1% allocation was in 2021, Ric Edelman argues

article-image

The wallet doesn’t have enough memory for more apps and features but should still function, the company says

article-image

The proof-of-work L1 is betting on parallel-chain scaling, low fees, and a $50 million grant program to lure Solidity developers and tokenized RWA issuers

article-image

Sponsored

Injective is not waiting for the future of finance. It is bringing it directly to us, today.

article-image

Bitcoin has been bullish for nearly 1,000 days

article-image

Robinhood announced that it’s building an L2 and also plans to launch staking for US users