According to local reports, Coinbase Global is in talks to acquire 2TM, which is the parent company of Brazil’s largest crypto exchange – Mercado Bitcoin.
Acquisition In The Works?
The reports are only based on speculation, as the local newspaper, Estadão, cited no concrete sources when it published this news in the Sunday issue. According to the report, the two companies involved in the deal are crypto exchange Coinbase Global and Brazilian crypto unicorn 2TM, who have been in discussions for a potential acquisition since last year. The report also speculated that an agreement is to be reached soon and the news could be announced as soon as the end of April.
2TM’s Latin American Expansion
Mercado Bitcoin’s parent company, 2TM, had conducted its series B funding round back in June 2021. It successfully raised $200 million and an additional $50 million, which hiked the company’s valuation to $2.1 billion. CEO Roberto Dagnoni had previously stated that 2TM has been embarking on acquisition missions across Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. So far, it has already acquired a controlling stake in Portugal’s first crypto exchange, CriptoLoja. 2TM also owns Meubank, MB Digital Assets, Bitrust, Blockchain Academy, and MezaPro.
Brazil Attracts Crypto Exchanges
Brazil has been experiencing a nationwide spurt in crypto adoption rate. Stablecoin trading had tripled in volume in 2021 compared to the previous year. Mercado Bitcoin, which is the largest crypto exchange in the country, acquired 1.1 million new users in 2021 alone, bringing the total number of users on the platform to a sizeable 3.2 million. Additionally, the exchange has also reportedly reached $7.1 billion in trading volume last year. This has led to many global crypto giants, like Coinbase, Binance, and Crypto.com, turning their focus on this market.
Coinbase Is Scaling Up
Coinbase had announced the creation of an engineering hub in Brazil back in November 2020. It was also looking to expand its team with Brazilian hires for different positions. This year, Coinbase is looking to continue scaling up. Recently the company announced that it will be listing its $ADA token for staking in a bid to expand its staking portfolio for the rest of 2022. In addition, just last week, Coinbase announced that it is integrating Solana on its platform. This allows Coinbase users to access blockchains and networks that run on the Solana ecosystem. Coinbase users will also be able to manage their SOL and SPL (Solana Program Library) tokens on the platform itself.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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