MercadoLibre offers crypto trading in Brazil

MercadoLibre, the Latin American-based marketplace, is set to introduce cryptocurrency trading for Brazilian customers.

MercadoPago – the payment platform for online sales – will enable its customers to trade crypto with their digital wallets in what is the company’s first venture into creating a product in the digital space.

Tulio Oliveira, a MercadoPago vice president, said the recent pilot program allowed the company to learn more about the industry and enabled them to encounter an unfamiliar space that they plan on growing in.

“We took the time to study and learn before deciding to step into crypto,” Oliveira said.

“This has a transformational potential ahead and opens up a new avenue for us.”

The interest in crypto from the executives of the company has been noted since its acquisition of $7.8bn worth of Bitcoin.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Marcos Galperin, CEO of MercadoLibre, spoke on the potential that surrounds the cryptocurrency industry.

“Crypto is going to be a major development,” Galperin stated.

“People are trying to retain value, and some of the cryptocurrencies will retain value by definition because they cannot be printed away or devalued.”