Top cryptocurrency news: MercadoLibre to create a cryptocurrency as part of its loyalty program
MercadoLibre Inc, a South American e-commerce giant, announced the introduction of a new cryptocurrency dubbed MercadoCoin on Thursday, which would be introduced in Brazil as part of its loyalty program.
MercadoLibre announced at a press conference that customers will get MercadoCoins as cashback when purchasing items on the e-commerce platform.
They will then be able to use the digital currency, which adheres to Ethereum's ERC-20 token standard, to make new purchases or trade it on MercadoPago, the company's financial services subsidiary.
The move comes as competition in Brazil's e-commerce grows, with Sea Ltd's Shopee claiming a 270% sales rise in the nation in the second quarter and China's AliExpress also making inroads.
It also follows a dip in crypto markets that saw giants like Celsius and Voyager collapse earlier this year, while MercadoLibre's ‘country lead Fernando Yunes’ stated that “the firm was concentrating on long-term potential rather than short-term market swings.”
MercadoLibre's cryptocurrency will be priced at $0.10 initially before being subject to market fluctuations.
It will be offered to 500,000 Brazilian customers starting Thursday and is scheduled to reach the company's whole client base of 80 million people in the nation by late August.
The company stated that it does not know when it would extend MercadoCoin to other Latin American nations other than Brazil. It also stated that the digital currency will not be exchanged on any other exchanges other than MercadoPago for the time being.
