Latin America’s largest online trading platform invests in Bitcoin

Nasdaq-listed Argentine company Mercado Libre purchased Bitcoin worth $7.8 million in Q1 2021.

In an SEC filing minutes ago, MercadoLibre (Nasdaq: MELI), based in Argentina, stated:

«As part of our treasury strategy this quarter we purchased $7.8 million in bitcoin.»

A South American company protecting itself in terms of currency…

Filing:https://t.co/Wnb3Ilz7Id

— MacroScope (@MacroScope17) May 5, 2021

The largest operator of e-commerce marketplaces and online auctions in Latin America disclosed this in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

«As part of our cash-management strategy this quarter, we purchased $7.8 million of Bitcoin, a digital asset that we disclose as part of our indefinite-lived intangible assets,» the report says.

Mercado Libre became the first publicly traded company in the region to convert part of its reserves into Bitcoin.

The pioneer among exchange-listed companies converting capital into Bitcoin was American MicroStrategy. In August 2020, the firm converted $250 million of its own funds into digital gold.

According to Bitcoin Treasuries, the company owns 91 579 BTC worth more than $5.2 billion at the time of writing.

Following MicroStrategy’s example were Tesla and Square in the U.S., Mode in the United Kingdom, Mogo in Canada, and Seetee in Norway.

As a reminder, the Chinese public company Meitu decided to use as reserves not only Bitcoin, but also Ethereum.