Latin American e-commerce giant Mercado Libre purchased $7.8 million worth of Bitcoin in the first quarter

Mercado Libre, Latin America's largest e-commerce platform, disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday that it holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet. As part of its treasury strategy, the company purchased $7.8 million in Bitcoin in the first quarter of 2021. The exact date of the purchase has not been disclosed.

Founded in 1999, MercadoLibre is the largest online commerce ecosystem in Latin America. The company was listed on the Nasdaq (ticker: MELI) after its IPO in 2007 and currently has a market capitalization of over $76 billion.

As previously reported by BitPush, Mercado Libre has launched a cryptocurrency function area within its platform, which supports people to buy real estate with Bitcoin. Currently, the platform has 75 properties managed by seven real estate companies, applicable to real estate in major cities in Argentina and Uruguay. Real estate is priced in US dollars, and interested buyers can contact real estate agents to reach an agreement on the conversion rate and then trade in Bitcoin.

Just last week, major Japanese game developer Nexon announced it spent about $100 million to purchase 1,717 BTC for its balance sheet. Mercado Libre’s announcement makes it the 36th publicly traded company to hold Bitcoin.

Additionally, Mercado Libre founder and former CEO Marcos Galperín has publicly announced several times that he has held Bitcoin in his personal portfolio since 2013 and has expressed various bullish views on the Latin American cryptocurrency ecosystem, even saying that he believes Bitcoin is more valuable than gold.

He has held Bitcoin in his personal portfolio since 2013 and has expressed various bullish views on the Latin American cryptocurrency ecosystem, arguing that Bitcoin is a better store of value than gold.

Mercado Libre’s investment represents a strong step towards mainstreaming Bitcoin as a payment method.