MercadoLibre’s payment service to give customers access to cryptocurrencies

The operator of Latin America’s largest online marketplace, MercadoLibre, will allow customers to invest in cryptocurrencies through its payments app. Bloomberg reports this.

Users of MercadoPago in Brazil will be able to buy, sell and store cryptocurrencies in their digital wallets.

According to Túlio Oliveira, vice president of the MercadoPago division, since early November a small group of customers has been testing the service, and it will soon be widely available.

The Argentine company plans to roll out the product to other Latin American markets. However, initially customers will not be able to use cryptocurrencies to pay for purchases on MercadoLibre.

Oliveira noted that digital assets possess “transformational potential” and open up new opportunities for the company.

“We spent time studying and learning before we decided to enter crypto,” he added.

MercadoLibre opened its fintech unit in 2003. The Argentine company gradually expanded the range of services from wallet and payments to lending for buyers and merchants, as well as insurance. In the third quarter, MercadoPago’s turnover stood at $20.9 billion — up 44% on the year.

Earlier, Brazilians gained the ability to buy and sell bitcoin through the taxi-aggregator’s wallet.