Online marketplace Mercado Libre, Latin America’s answer to Amazon, today announced the launch of its own cryptocurrency.
The company launched Mercado Coin for customers in Brazil as the ECR20 token – the implemented standard for tokens created using the Ethereum blockchain. Marketplace users can use it to earn cashback rewards.
Mercado Coin is initially valued at $0.10 but will be subject to market fluctuations, the company said.
“Mercado Coin is our new way to reward our users for their behavior within our ecosystem,” said Mercado Libre. “The more selected products you buy, the more Mercado Coins you get.”
Argentine cryptocurrency exchange Ripio developed the technology behind the token.
Marcos Galperin, CEO and Founder of Mercado Libre, said on Twitter: “Today we launched Mercado Coin in Brazil, further expanded our loyalty program and took another step towards the democratization of financial inclusion in Latin America.”
The idea is that customers can use the cryptocurrency to buy things on the marketplace or trade them through the company’s fintech arm, Mercado Pago.
Mercado Libre also said that the token is not available on other platforms besides Mercado Pago.
Mercado Libre is the largest online marketplace in Latin America and has brought millions of dollars worth of Bitcoin to its balance sheet.
In January, there were rumors that Mercado Libre was working on releasing its own stablecoin – but this was never confirmed by the company.
Stay up to date on crypto news and receive daily updates in your inbox.
