Tether Invests $20M in Mercado Bitcoin for Tokenization

Tether is investing $20 million in Brazilian crypto platform Mercado Bitcoin to support the company's expansion into tokenization, payments, lending and onchain capital markets across Latin America, the firms announced Tuesday.

The funding will be allocated to expand payments infrastructure, add tokenized investment products, develop lending and credit services, and support onchain capital markets initiatives, according to the announcement.

Mercado Bitcoin was founded in 2013 and began as a crypto exchange. It now offers tokenized investment products, stablecoin payments, credit and cross-border banking infrastructure.

Mercado Bitcoin reported it serves 4.5 million users, has issued more than $370 million in tokenized assets and holds more than ten regulatory licenses across Brazil and Europe.

Tether has increased activity in Brazil. Last month, the Tether-backed payments app Oobit integrated Brazil's PIX instant payment network, allowing users to deposit reais, hold funds in Tether's USDT stablecoin and spend via PIX, which serves roughly 170 million users. Tether described Brazil as one of the most active digital asset markets.

In a statement, Paolo Ardoino, Tether's CEO, described the company's mission as “build open, accessible, and efficient financial infrastructure for the world.”

Mercado Bitcoin said the new capital will support product launches and infrastructure upgrades to make tokenized assets and onchain financial services easier to access for retail and institutional users. The company plans to scale its payments rails, widen the range of tokenized offerings and expand lending and credit operations for consumer and commercial use cases.

The firm noted its tokenized assets include investment vehicles and digital representations of tradable instruments, and it is pursuing licensing and compliance across multiple jurisdictions to support these offerings.

The financing is one of several recent investments in Latin American crypto platforms aimed at supporting digital payments, remittances and tokenized securities.