Mercado Libre to launch US dollar-pegged stablecoin in Brazil

Customers of Mercado Pago’s subsidiary bank will be able to buy and sell the asset without fees

22.08.2024 - 11:00

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What’s new? Digital bank Mercado Pago will launch Meli Dollar, a US dollar-pegged stablecoin in Brazil. Local customers of the bank will be able to buy and sell the asset without fees using accounts in Brazilian reals. According to management, the product “aims to provide a practical and stable option for financial management.”

Material by CoinDesk

What else is known? Mercado Pago is a division of Argentine e-commerce giant Mercado Libre, which is the largest company in Latin America. Its shares under the ticker MELI are trading at $2007,46 on the Nasdaq, having added 0,1% overnight. Monthly growth amounted to 20,3%, and since the beginning of the year, securities have risen by 29%.

In August 2022, Mercado Libre launched its cryptocurrency Mercado Coin, which customers can use to make purchases on the trading platform and receive cashback. Previously, Mercado Pago integrated the blockchain infrastructure of US-based stablecoin issuer Paxos, allowing the bank’s Brazilian customers to tradebitcoin,Ethereum, and the stablecoin Pax Dollar (USDP).

As part of the new launch, Latin American crypto firm Ripio will act as a market maker for transactions on Mercado Pago. It was also previously involved in the development of Mercado Coin.

Last year, the US payment giant PayPal launched its own PYPL stablecoin together with Paxos. Recently, its capitalization approached the $1 billion mark.

At the end of last year, blockchain project Worldcoin integrated its World ID digital passport system into Mercado Libre. This ID is assigned to users after undergoing an iris scan.

This month, Brazil’s securities regulator allowed funds based on the Solana (SOL) blockchain’s native token to be traded on Latin America’s largest stock exchange, B3.

The first in the region was a product of investment firm QR Asset and fintech company Vortx, while the second was a fund of asset management company Hashdex and bank BTG Pactual.

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