One of Brazil’s most popular newspapers, Estadão, indicated that Coinbase may buy a $2.2B Brazilian unicorn behind the Mercado Bitcoin firm. Coinbase is apparently purchasing 2TM, the Brazilian parent firm of Mercado Bitcoin.
According to Estado, the Coinbase purchase is expected to happen next month. As per the record, purchase negotiations began in 2022. Mercado Bitcoin is Latin America’s biggest crypto brokerage, whose parent firm 2TM has become a unicorn in 2021. Its worth reaches $2.2B. In addition to acquisitions, 2TM is focusing on lusophone markets. In January, 2TM’s Mercado Bitcoin bought a Lisbon-based crypto exchange called CriptoLoja.
Looking at the structure of 2TM, it has a long list of participants. This list includes Meubank, MB Digital Assets, CriptoLoja, Bitrust, Blockchain Academy, MezaPro, Wuzu, and Portal do Bitcoin.
It is clear that Coinbase’s worldwide acquisition strategy is working. In addition, it recently bought blockchain-infrastructure platform Bison Trails. This purchase came after the acquisition of an Indian AI firm. This decision was made to boost client support because there was negative feedback from the clients.
The Potential of Brazil for Bitcoin Adoption
There is a recent report from Coinbase for institutional investors about crypto in Latin America called ‘Crypto in Latam’. In this report, Brazil is mentioned 31 times. On the other hand, Mexico, which is known for a lot of interest in the crypto space, was only mentioned 17 times.
Moreover, the report states the increased frequency of people who trade directly in crypto. As of August, the local crypto exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, saw seven-fold more transactions than it did last year.
Following on, Latam expansion is a key part of the group’s plan. The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange is also looking for business development managers and executives in Brazil as part of a job hunt.
It is worth noting that Brazil is a hub for Bitcoin adoption. This is no surprise at all. There are more than 10 million Brazilians owning cryptocurrency. Additionally, there is good news for crypto enthusiasts. Rio de Janeiro is set to accept crypto for certain taxes in 2023. As reported, the “mass adoption” in Brazil refers to the participation of UFC stars and politicians as well.