Key facts:
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Mercado Libre holds more than 400 BTC, valued at almost USD 30 million.
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More than 3,000 ETH are in the custody of Mercado Libre.
The leading electronic commerce (e-commerce) company in Latin America, Mercado Libre, revealed this week the status of its holdings in bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, which exceed USD 40 million.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mercado Libre notified that, as of March 31, 2024, accumulates a total of 412.7 bitcoina figure valued in the order of USD 29 million until that moment.
Likewise, Mercado Libre reported that at the end of the first quarter of this year, they accumulated 3,041.8 ETH, the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network. A figure valued at USD 11 million, according to the prices of these assets.
Mercado Libre’s investments in BTC and other crypto assets date back to 2021, as reflected in the presentation. Indeed, in May 2021 CriptoNoticias reported that Mercado Libre purchased USD 8 million in BTC as part of its treasury strategy. The acquisition was made in one of the periods of greatest growth for BTC, remembering that a bull market was brewing that year.
This means that the investment in BTC made by Mercado Libre three years ago, has revalued by 260%. This, considering that the USD 8 million invested in 2021 has already been recovered with BTC holdings being valued at USD 30 million.
It also means that, after its investment in 2021, the e-commerce company surpassed the BTC bear market of 2022 and 2023 without selling their holdings. That is, he acted as a true bitcoin hodler. And now, in full bull runMercado Libre’s investments are in profits, which suits that company, which overcame its first winter of the cryptocurrency market.
From Mercado Libre they recognize who did not invest in 2022 and 2023 in BTC due to the intrinsic volatility of these assets and the “use thereof for a variety of regulatory purposes that may change in the future.” The company indicates that the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape regarding digital assets “can subject us to additional problems,” such as the implementation of controls “or other additional and potentially costly actions.”
User holdings
On the other hand, Mercado Libre also reported on the holdings of BTC and cryptocurrencies that are maintained by the company on behalf of clients, which reach USD 71 million by March 31, 2024, when on December 31, 2023 they were USD 34 million.
Broken down further, this consisted of $41 million in bitcoin; USD 15 million in ETH; and USD 15 million “in other crypto assets” which, however, They did not identify from Mercado Libre.
“Custody services for clients’ crypto assets are provided by no more than 2 entities in each of the countries where Mercado Libre offers its digital asset feature as part of the Mercado Pago wallet,” the company indicates.
Mercado Libre, which is one of the largest e-commerce companies in Latin America, has long been within the bitcoin and cryptocurrency ecosystem. In 2023 they enabled the sale and purchase of BTC in several countries in the region.
In fact, the founder of Mercado Libre, Marcos Galperin, states that bitcoin “is better than gold” as a store of value, which makes the relationship of that company clear. with the most important digital asset on the market.
