Brazil-based cryptocurrency exchange operator Mercado Bitcoin has secured R$200m ($37.2m) in a funding round featuring financial services firm Banco Plural.
Alternative investment firm GP Investments’ GP Inova Fund co-led the round with venture capital fund Parallax Ventures. It also featured Parallax’s Sublimis Funds, HS Investimentos FIP, Gear Ventures and entrepreneur Ze Bonchristiano’s Evora Fund.
Founded in 2013, Mercado Bitcoin operates a digital exchange platform for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. About $1.2bn of assets were traded on the platform in 2020, and its number of customers increased to 2.2 million.
The funding will enable Mercado Bitcoin to expand its operations internationally and establish a presence in new countries in Latin America. It will also invest in Bitrust, a cryptocurrency custodian service for institutional investors, and digital wallet and banking services provider Meubank.
Reinaldo Rabelo, Mercado Bitcoin’s chief executive, said: “We want to develop the crypto ecosystem in Brazil and create a market as developed as that of the United States. To do this, we want to be one of the five largest digital exchanges in the world.
“Today, we are already the largest exchange in Latin America, operating almost exclusively in Brazil. Now, we are going to look at the other markets, like Chile, Mexico and Argentina, which have a regulatory culture closer to ours.”
In the long-term, Rabelo said Mercado Bitcoin intended to build new infrastructure for the financial market based on blockchain technology, smart contracts and crypto assets.