(Estadão) US crypto exchange Coinbase is said to be in advanced talks to acquire 2TM, which owns Brazil’s largest crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin.
Discussions for the proposed acquisition have reportedly been ongoing since last year, with an agreement expected late next month.
The acquisition is significant as Mercado Bitcoin hit about 3.2 million users in 2021, with up to 1.1 million added in the last year only. The crypto exchange’s trading volume rose up to $7.1 billion in 2021.
The acquisition reports come when crypto adoption has been growing in Brazil, with stablecoin trading having tripled in 2021 from the previous year in the Latin American country.
Coinbase had, in November 2020, hinted at creating an engineering hub in Brazil and opened several positions in an expansion move.
Other exchanges, including Binance, are also eyeing the acquisition of financial service providers in Brazil. The crypto exchange recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to buy Brazilian securities brokerage.
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