Latin America’s equivalent to Amazon, the online market place Mercado Libre, has announced the launch of its own cryptocurrency.
All thanks to Mercado Coin, Brazil consumers will be able to use the marketplace to earn cashback rewards. The newly launched coin is an ECR20 token, which is the accepted standard for tokens made using the Ethereum blockchain.
The value of Mercado Coin will start out at $0.10 but could change depending on the market, the business stated.
“Mercado Coin is our new way of rewarding our users for their behavior within our ecosystem. The more purchases of selected products they make, the more Mercado Coins they receive.”
Mercado Libre
The technology for the token was developed by the Argentine cryptocurrency exchange Ripio.
“Today we launched Mercado Coin in Brazil, enhancing our loyalty programme and moving closer to democratising financial inclusion in Latin America,” tweeted the CEO and founder of Mercado Libre, Marcos Galperin.
Customers will be able to trade cryptocurrencies through the company’s fintech division, Mercado Pago, or use it to make purchases on the marketplace.
The largest online market in Latin America, Mercado Libre, has millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin listed on its balance sheet.
There were reports that Mercado Libre was planning to launch its own stablecoin in January, but the company never confirmed these claims.
