Mercado Bitcoin plans to expand to Mexico this year

Mercado Bitcoin, a Brazilian crypto exchange platform, intends to expand to Mexico. The SoftBank-backed platform intends to enter Mexico before the year ends. Mercado Bitcoin is positioning itself to take over the Latin American market by expanding tactically.

In an interview, Reinaldo Rabelo, CEO of Mercado Bitcoin, stated that the firm would start doing business in Mexico. He seemed confident the operations would begin in the year’s second half. Rabelo added that talks for obtaining regulatory clearance in the country are entering their last stages.

Rabelo stated that Mercado Bitcoin would accomplish the move through an acquisition. The same strategy Mercado Bitcoin’s investment firm 2TM used to penetrate Portugal. 2TM acquired Lisbon-based marketplace CriptoLoja making its entry into the country smooth.

The CEO did not disclose any other details on the Mexican acquisition. However, he said that the acquisition is now awaiting regulatory approval. Besides, Rabelo stressed that Mercado Bitcoin is not buying another crypto exchange to operate in the nation.

Mercado Bitcoin expands with support from SoftBank

The expansion comes roughly a year after the organization received $200 million from SoftBank Group Corp. The South America fund intends to grow the crypto exchange brand throughout the continent.

Yet, Rabelo stated that the firm is looking at the South American market more cautiously due to macroeconomic conditions. Brazil is the only country in the region where Mercado Bitcoin is operational.

Mercado Bitcoin’s drive into the Mexican economy comes when the environment is still adverse for crypto assets. The regulatory issues and growing interest rates combine to create an unfriendly environment.

According to the CEO, the trade volumes on the Mercado Bitcoin platform have experienced a decline. The extent is “very similar” to those observed in the crypto field. Unfortunately, he declined to disclose more up-to-date numbers. The firm announced that its traded volume in 2021 totaled 40 billion reais, which equals USD 7.31 billion.

Rabelo feels that the crypto meltdown will continue to chill investors until 2023, thus slowing down the market and availing little funds in return.

At the end of the day, this low season will pass, and we will have other times of exhilaration. I can promise you that.

Reinaldo Rabelo

Latin America market

Regarding incorporating cryptos into everyday life, Latin America is now leading the world in adoption. The worth of the Latin American crypto market skyrocketed to an astonishing $650 million in 2021. The growth indicates a ten-fold rise from its previous worth of only $68 million.

Because of this enormous growth, big blockchain firms worldwide began focusing on the region. The EHOLD group, which is famous in the field of developing and promoting crypto exchanges, is among the investors.

The entity could not resist the temptation to build on its previous achievements. Thus, it acquired the Argentine exchange C-Patex to make the most of the opportunities available in the region.

Bit2Me also announced that it had acquired most of the shares held by Fluyez, a cryptocurrency trading platform operating out of Peru.

Buenbit is also among the trading platforms keen to have a pie of the Latin Share. So far, the exchange has expanded to Mexico and Peru, offering loan facilities to crypto lovers.

Additionally, Bitso, Coinbase, and Circle took notice of the situation. In the early part of this year, Coinbase launched a cash-out service. Over 37,000 small businesses and retail outlets across Latin America can help to exchange local pesos for BTC.

In November, Circle and Bitso worked together to offer a product that eases international wire transfers. The program gives individuals of modest means the ability to convert their dollars into stablecoins. Once in stablecoins, people can transfer them to Mexico in the form of pesos.

Later, Bitso enabled small and midsized enterprises to convert Mexican pesos to Stellar USDC. Users can do this via its cross-border B2B payment option.