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Latin American e-commerce and fintech giant MercadoLibre (Nasdaq:MELI) added $7.8 million in bitcoin (BTC) to its treasury. The company revealed this in its earnings report covering the first quarter ending March 31, 2021.
The recent boom in the crypto market has caught the interest of many large corporations. Some have chosen to remain outsiders, while others have jumped right into it. MercadoLibre is one of the early adopters of BTC.
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It first integrated bitcoin into its payments platform in 2015. Just last week, it unveiled its bitcoin-only real estate platform. Through this platform, users will access a select group of Argentinian real estate properties located in Argentina and pay for them using crypto, such as Bitcoin (BTC).
The move underscores Mercado Libre’s position on Bitcoin. It intends to bring the advantages of cryptocurrency transactions. As a result, both the buyers and sellers will enjoy multiple benefits, such as security, traceability, and speed.
MercadoLibre runs an ecommerce-centric business. In addition to its e-commerce platform, it offers fintech, logistics, and financing solutions through its Mercado Pago, Mercado Envios, and Mercado Crédito subsidiaries.
Some people still consider investing in Bitcoin as a high-risk, high-reward investment. But today, many companies are using crypto as a store of value. Even though MercadoLibre invested a whopping $7.8 million, it is nothing close to what other publicly traded firms have. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) invested at least $1.5 billion, MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) $2.17 billion, while Square (NYSE:SQ) has invested $220 million.
There are unconfirmed reports that JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) could also embrace cryptocurrency by introducing an actively managed Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) fund. That would be active management of an entire portfolio of varied cryptocurrency assets, unique and new concepts in the crypto market.