Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil's Largest Crypto Exchange, Receives License as a Payment Institution

The company plans to offer financial services that combine the potential of crypto with traditional financial services.

AccessTimeIconJun 2, 2023 at 8:22 p.m. UTC
Updated Jun 14, 2023 at 2:41 p.m. UTC

Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil's largest crypto exchange, was licensed as a payment institution by Brazil's central bank on Friday, Valor Economico newspaper reported.

The company is now authorized to operate as a payment institution, under the status of an electronic money issuer.

"The central bank's approval is an important step, as it allows us to continue with our business expansion plans to offer an even more complete experience to our customers," Roberto Dagnoni, CEO of Mercado Bitcoin, said in a statement.

Mercado Bitcoin already operates MB Pay, a digital account through which more than four million users can buy cryptocurrencies and invest in digital fixed income and different asset classes.

Dagnoni added that the exchange plans to offer financial services that combine the potential of crypto with traditional financial services, including a crypto payments card planned for the coming months.

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Andrés Engler

Andrés Engler was a CoinDesk editor based in Argentina, where he covers the Latin American crypto ecosystem. He holds BTC and ETH.


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