MercadoPago, the fintech arm of e-commerce giant MercadoLibre, has given its Brazilian customers the opportunity to buy, sell and store Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Paxos-issued stable coins backed by US dollars (USDP). In a statement released Thursday by US-based Paxos, a blockchain infrastructure platform used by PayPal and Facebook, the partnership between MercadoPago and Paxos will allow users to pay for all products sold on the platform using cryptocurrency.
This news points to one of the largest stablecoin transactions in a non-crypto wallet to date. Brazilian users who want to save US dollars can now do so for just 1 Brazilian real in the MercadoPago app by purchasing USDP. In the midst of hyperinflation in Latin America, stack coins can provide protection against a currency downturn.
Starting with Brazil, MercadoLibre’s largest market, partnerships with Paxos are planned to “accelerate the democratization of Latin America’s financial services.” Since MercadoPago hopes to make cryptocurrency more accessible to all Brazilians, Paxos plans to protect clients’ assets.
Since MercadoPago is licensed by the Brazilian central bank to operate as a payment institution, the overall process and platform integration will be handled by Paxos, which has opened an office in Brazil and will process users’ transaction reports to regulatory authorities. Tulio Oliveira, Vice President of MercadoPago Brasil.
Related: After announcing the sale of Bitcoin, Mercado Planre Livne aceitar BTC og cryptomoedas como pagamento para todos os produtos
MercadoLibre has served the out-of-pocket and unbanked population since 1999. Now MercadoPago and Paxos are among the few companies trying to normalize the connectivity and core of stablecoin use. Reserve is another platform that converts local currencies in Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina and Panama to US dollars through Reserve Stable Currency (RSV).
