Latin America’s leading online marketplace Mercado Libre is diving into crypto again—this time offering stablecoins.
Mexican users of the company’s fintech arm, Mercado Pago, will now be able to use Paxos’ Pax Dollar (USDP), according to a Wednesday announcement.
Mercado Pago is a digital wallet app from Mercado Libre which allows people to make payments.
USDP is the 43rd largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $994 million, according to CoinGecko. It is a stablecoin: a digital token pegged to a stable asset—in this case the U.S. dollar. Paxos is the New York-based blockchain infrastructure firm behind USDP.
Stablecoins are useful as they don’t go up and down in value like Bitcoin or Ethereum. They are very important in the crypto economy as traders use them to enter and exit trades quickly.
Mercado Pago said in its announcement that the partnership would mean Mexicans would now have “easy access to the safest digital dollars.”
Paxos Halts BUSD Minting as SEC Prepares Lawsuit
The SEC is reportedly taking aim at the owner and issuer of the world’s third-largest stablecoin, Binance USD. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to sue Paxos Trust for violating investor protection laws, the company has confirmed to Decrypt. Paxos said that it was halting the minting of BUSD and would “end its relationship with Binance” for the stablecoin in a press release. It also made assurances that existing BUSD tokens are fully backed and will be redeemable for at least a y...
Chief Revenue Officer of Paxos Michael Coscetta added that “the enthusiastic adoption of digital assets in Mexico and throughout Latin America showcases the demand for this transformational technology by everyday consumers.”
Mercado Libre is Latin America’s answer to Amazon. Last year, the company launched Mercado Coin, an ECR20 token for customers in Brazil. The asset allows Brazilian customers to use it to earn cashback rewards.
The Buenos Aires-based e-commerce giant became the first Latin American company to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet when it snapped up $7.8 million-worth of the cryptocurrency in 2021.
