Latin American e-commerce platform Mercado Libre is reportedly phasing out the Mercado Coin that it launched in August 2022, which was aimed at offering cash backs and other perks for users.
According to a Reuters report on Tuesday, users must sell or spend their loyalty coin balances through the Mercado Pago app before April 17. If no action is taken, the balances will be converted to Brazilian reals.
Cointelegraph reached out to Mercado Libre for comment.
Brazil has been the main market for Mercado Coin, which enables users to earn tokens as cash back when buying products on Mercado Libre, considered to be the “Amazon of Latin America.”
The shutting down of Mercado Coin doesn’t spell the end of crypto rewards for Mercado Libre users, as the e-commerce platform still offers Meli Dolar (MUSD), a US-dollar stablecoin that launched in 2024.
Mercado Libre customers use MUSD for everyday transactions and peer-to-peer payments on the platform, while subscribers to Meli+ can also receive cash back on MUSD purchases.
Data from Mercado Libre’s latest attestation report on Feb. 28 shows that MUSD balances are backed by $75 million worth of assets.
Nubank’s Nucoin collapsed in 2024
Launching in-house utility coins in Latin America has proven to be a tough task.
Nubank, Brazil’s largest bank, launched the Polygon-based Nucoin in late 2022 and airdropped tokens to much of its more than 100 million customer base shortly after.
However, the token’s value collapsed 97% by September 2024, forcing Nubank to suspend trading of the token.
Related: Australian crypto shopping surges, but so do banking blocks: Survey
Nubank started restructuring its loyalty program for Nucoin in July, stripping out its market-based features and repositioning it as a rewards program focused on engagement, perks and in-app benefits.
Mercado Libre has held strong on its Bitcoin
Meanwhile, Mercado Libre continues to hold Bitcoin (BTC) as a treasury asset, with 570.4 Bitcoin worth $38.85 million marked on its balance sheet, BitcoinTreasuries.NET data shows.
Mercado Libre was one of the earlier corporations to invest in Bitcoin, making its first purchase in 2021.
The e-commerce platform hasn’t sold since and is up nearly 77% on its Bitcoin investment, having purchased the coins at an average price of $38,569.
Magazine: When privacy and AML laws conflict — Crypto projects’ impossible choice
