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The Latin American market is one of the biggest and fastest-growing for cryptocurrency.
Several crypto related firms are looking to move into this market and take advantage of the opportunities it presents.
BitPay, one of the leading providers of crypto payment services, had announced that it is partnering with Mercardo Livre, a top e-commerce firm in Latin America.
Through this partnership, the two companies will give their clients the ability to use cryptocurrency to make purchases. Mercado’s customers will be able to buy Livre gift cards using Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.
These currencies are supported by BitPay, and the collaboration will create an opportunity for Mercado Livre’s customers to use the crypto assets.
Latin American market growing
Cryptocurrency use is growing in Latin America faster than most parts of the world. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are used for remittances and the purchasing of goods and services.
The use of digital assets as part of this region’s financial systems has been pushed by high inflation rates that have eroded the value of many fiat currencies.
The Argentine Peso is one such example of a currency that has fallen and led to people in the country making use of crypto instead.
The partnership between BitPay and Mercado Livre gives people in Latin America several applications through which they can use cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash can now be used to pay for utilities and services such as metro rides, electrical and water bills, and Uber credits. People living outside of South America can send gift cards and credits to their families as remittances.
BitPay recently announced that they would be adding Ethereum to the cryptos supported by their system.
When support for Ethereum goes live, Mecardo Livre’s clients will also be able to use this asset for their transactions. This gives these users a wide range of options in terms of the cryptos they can use.
Mercado Livre’s large customer base
Mercado Livre provides e-commerce services to over 170 million people in Latin America. The online platform is popular for the auctions that are run on its online shops.
It is regarded as one of the most forward-thinking organizations in the world, and it is a part of Facebook’s Libra Association.
The e-commerce giant runs a payment solutions application named Mercado Pago. The payment application is used in several countries such as Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, Uruguay, and Argentina.
The wallet enables its users to execute transactions on the Mercado Livre online shopping portal. There are over 100 million registered users on the Mercado Pago wallet.
The company’s financials show that billions of dollars have been processed on the wallet since it was launched.
Alberto Vega, BitPay’s Regional Manager for LAC, said that Bitcoin is growing in popularity in Brazil and so is awareness of crypto related payment systems.
The awareness has grown over the last year or so as more people in the region learn the value of Bitcoin.
The value of sales has gone up by 260% over the last three months in response to the growing value of Bitcoin, concluded Vega.
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