Brazilian company Mercado Bitcoin wants to open its doors in Mexico this year in order to sell bitcoin there as well. Speaking to Cointelegraph, CEO Reinaldo Rabelo said that Mercado Bitcoin is currently waiting for approval from the authorities to open in Mexico.
Expansion through acquisition
Exactly how Mercado Bitcoin plans to move into Mexico is not clear at the time of writing. In April, Reinaldo Rabelo said that expansion by acquisition is the easiest way to enter new markets.
https://twitter.com/dgcryptotv/status/1550398946786394112
For example, in January, 2TM Group, Mercado Bitcoin’s parent company, bought a controlling stake in Lisbon-based CriptoLoja as part of its expansion into Portugal.
Interestingly, Coinbase was previously in talks with 2TM about a possible acquisition. At the time, 2TM was still valued at USD 2 billion, but the talks with Coinbase ultimately foundered in May.
Dangerous macroeconomic scenario
Rabelo further indicates that 2TM is currently looking at the Latin American market with a little more caution due to the macroeconomic scenario. At the time of writing, the company operates in Brazil and Portugal through companies such as Mercado Bitcoin, Blockchain Academy, Bitrust, CriptoLoja, and Portal do Bitcoin.
If Mercado Bitcoin makes the move into Mexico, it will compete with Bitso, which is currently the largest in the country and also operates in Argentina, Brazil, El Salvador, and Colombia. What makes Mexico a special bitcoin country is that several politicians have tried to introduce a bitcoin law similar to El Salvador’s.
But without success so far, as no significant steps have been taken by Mexico in that regard since then. In addition, it is in the process of rolling out digital central bank money around 2024.
