Mercadolibre-related digital payments company Mercado Pago has recently announced the expansion of the crypto services it offers to users in Brazil. The company revealed that it will now allow customers to deposit their cryptocurrency through third-party services and wallets at no cost to its crypto digital wallet.
Mercado Pago will allow deposits from third party services
Mercado Pago, one of the largest e-tailers of Mercadolibre’s payment processing service Latam, has announced that it will expand its range of crypto-related services for Brazilian customers, launched in November. The company revealed that it will open its platform for customers to receive deposits in crypto coming from third-party services, including other exchanges and other digital wallets.
In a statement sent to the portal Do Bitcoin, Mercado Pago said:
Starting today, it will be possible to receive Bitcoin, Ethereum and Pax dollars from other digital wallets through the Mercado Pago app. Last week, transfers started being enabled within the app itself.
It extends the functionality of Mercado Pago’s trading services, which previously behaved as a closed ecosystem, with users being able to buy and sell crypto only from within the app. Other companies such as NuBank, which use Paxos as a partner for crypto services, operate in a similar fashion.
The functionality to add transfers between crypto accounts within Mercado Pago’s platform was also requested by customers, who can now transfer crypto without having to exchange for Brazilian fiat currency.
Withdrawal still not available
Although the company started offering cryptocurrency services in November, it is yet to open up the system to allow withdrawals from the platform to other exchanges and wallets. Regarding the issue of withdrawals, Osvaldo Jiménez, president of fintech at Mercado Pago, announced in December that:
It is only a matter of time before allowing withdrawals, then we will allow transfers between wallets. But the priority was to provide access to investments in cryptocurrencies.
However, six months after that statement, there is still no way to transfer any of the cryptocurrencies available from Mercado Pago’s platform. The company did not specify a time frame in which this service would be made available.
Mercadolibre recently partnered with Mastercard to use its services to secure transactions and reduce the risks involved in transacting on the exchange platform. The company announced that it will leverage the capabilities of MasterCard to avoid money laundering and other related crimes on the platform.
What do you think about Mercado Pago expanding its cryptocurrency services in Brazil? Tell us in the comments section below.
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