Coinbase is preparing to purchase Brazil’s largest crypto exchange, according to a local Brazilian newspaper Estadao. The deal may be announced before the end of next month.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global (COIN) is in talks to purchase the Brazilian company 2TM, who owns Brazil’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin, the Estadao newspaper reported.
The same report states that Coinbase and 2TM have been in discussions about a potential purchase since last year and an agreement may be close to announcement.
2TM’s Mercado Bitcoin has surpassed 3 million users on its exchange in 2021, over 1 million of the customers were new in 2021 alone. It reports a trading volume of $7.1 billion in 2021 as well. Last summer 2TM was able to raise $200 million in a series B funding round which valuated 2TM at $2.1 billion US Dollars. 2TM has several other crypto related companies underneath it including Muebank, CriptoLoja, Blockchain Academy, and Portal do Bitcoin.
Coinbase continues to grow utilizing a global acquisition strategy. They have recently purchased an Indian artificial intelligence company to improve customer service and also a blockchain infrastructure platform named Bison Trails. In Coinbase’s recent investor report on Latin America, they mention Brazil double the amount of times that Mexico is mentioned even with Mexico having a larger GDP than Brazil. The same report states that “Direct crypto trading is growing rapidly. Locally based crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin has seen transaction volumes increase seven-fold year-on-year to August.”
Brazilian crypto adoption seems to be on the rise, the second largest city Rio de Janeiro recently announced that they will begin accepting Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as payment for property taxes in 2023.
