Circle teams up with Mercado Pago, offering USDC payments to Chilean customers, enhancing secure and convenient digital transactions through their strategic partnership.
In a significant move toward expanding the global adoption of USD Coin (USDC), the stablecoin pioneer Circle has entered into a groundbreaking partnership with Mercado Pago, a prominent fintech player within the Latin American (LATAM) region. Mercado Pago, a subsidiary of the retail giant Mercado Libre, has earned a reputation as the “Amazon of LATAM” with a staggering user base of 200 million.
Circle CEO Reveals USDC Payment Option For Chilean Customers Via Mercado Pago
The announcement, made on Tuesday, August 29, by Circle’s CEO Jeremy Allaire on the X platform(formerly known as Twitter), reveals that Mercado Pago will soon offer Circle-issued USDC as a payment option for its customers in Chile.
This strategic collaboration aims to cater to the growing demand for secure and reliable digital dollar transactions within the Chilean market.In response to this advancement, Matias Spagui, who holds the position of Senior Director at Mercado Pago, provided his feedback, expressing:
The US dollar is one of the most stable currencies in the world and a simple vehicle to ensure wealth preservation amidst general uncertainty. With the launch of this stablecoin, we seek to diversify access to cryptocurrencies and offer the more than two million Mercado Pago users an alternative that matches the value of the dollar.
USDC, denoted as USD Coin, stands as a stablecoin pegged to the value of the United States dollar. Surprisingly, recent statistics highlighted by Trontoday indicate that approximately 70% of USDC’s adoption has occurred outside of the United States.
USDC Integration Via Mercado Pago Set To Bolster Latin America’s Stablecoin Growth
The Latin American region has emerged as one of the stablecoin’s most promising markets.
The integration of USDC into the Mercado Pago payment platform is poised to make a significant impact on the adoption of this dollar-backed stablecoin in Chile and the broader Latin American market.
Notably, the parent company of Mercado Pago, Mercado Libre, has been steadfast in its commitment to embracing cryptocurrency payments since as early as 2021. Collaborating with Paxos, the company introduced the Pax Dollar (USDP) stablecoin for Mexican users earlier this year.
In an additional revelation, Jeremy Allaire also shared that Circle will soon be launching a native version of USDC on the Base network, an initiative incubated by Coinbase. This move signals a shift away from the bridged USDC liquidity originating from Ethereum.
The change follows an altered arrangement between Circle and Coinbase, which led to the cryptocurrency exchange acquiring an equity stake in Circle. This realignment also sparked changes in the governance and funding mechanisms of USDC.
As a result of this new partnership, Circle and Coinbase have dissolved the Centre Consortium, which had previously been responsible for overseeing the governance of Circle-issued USDC. This transformative agreement sets the stage for USDC’s expansion across six new blockchains, scheduled to roll out between September and October. The Base network is positioned to be the initial recipient of this expansion.
With the strategic partnership between Circle and Mercado Pago, the wheels are set in motion for USDC to gain further traction in Chile and beyond. As the digital financial landscape continues to evolve, these endeavors mark a substantial step toward a more connected and efficient global payment ecosystem.