E-Commerce Giant MercadoLibre Discloses $7.8M Bitcoin Buy

Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre disclosed a $7.8 million bitcoin purchase on Wednesday, making it the latest publicly traded company to park bitcoin on its balance sheet.

The Argentina-based company said in an earnings report the purchase happened in the last quarter and was part of its treasury strategy. MercadoLibre trades on Nasdaq as MELI.

Though far from the lofty bitcoin acquisitions of MicroStrategy (roughly $2.2 billion) or Tesla ($1.5 billion), the investment by MercadoLibre represents a strong step toward mainstreaming bitcoin as a payment option.

The largest e-commerce player in Latin America, MercadoLibre unveiled a bitcoin-only real estate platform just last week. Its MercadoPago payments platform integrated bitcoin in 2015.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

Danny Nelson

Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.