MercadoLibre and Bitcoin as a payment system
MercadoLibre is an e-commerce platform with operations in 19 countries in Latin America, where millions of users buy and sell products through the Internet.
Users can sell and auction both new and used products at a fixed or variable price, private services are also offered. MercadoLibre has a service called MercadoPago, a safer platform for charging sellers and payments and payments to buyers. Its headquarters are located in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
On the page, where members of MercadoLibre can publish their own sales or auctions of articles, recently have grown the publications in which users locate Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies among the forms of payment for their products.
The recent rise of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies has penetrated the MercadoLibre sales , where a large number of publications read the respective offers of products and services of users who, at the end of their offer, place " I accept bitcoins ", or " I accept cryptocurrencies ."
This is an important step forward for both entities. On the one hand, in the case of MercadoLibre, it reinforces its commitment to technological innovations, to facilitate ways of payment to its customers and to avoid anything that could hinder commercial relations. On the other hand Bitcoin advances towards its consolidation as an alternative to "real money" in the American continent.
Whether you are a buyer or a seller, the MercadoLibre Bitcoin association can only benefit you. In any case, you will always have the option to continue using the traditional physical money that you have been using so far. The difference is that now you can choose another option if you wish.
Some of the offers that accept this form of payment are new or used artifacts, as well as a variety of products and services.
Although the site offers various payment mechanisms, including one of its own called Mercadopago and others in cash such as PayPal, users have been attracted by the rise of cryptocurrencies.
In spite of the rumors that predicted the incorporation of cryptocurrencies among the payment services of the platform, at present this has not been done. However, this does not seem to have stopped the members of the page to include them personally among their payment options.
Achievements as the main e-commerce ecosystem in Latin America
MercadoLibre, the main e-commerce ecosystem in Latin America, reported financial results for the fourth quarter and for the year ended on December 31, 2017.
A total of 270.1 million articles were sold in mercadolibre.com during 2017, a year-over-year growth of 49.1% which resulted in a total volume of money transacted in the platform of US $ 11.7 billion.
Among the statistics published by MercadoLibre, the following stand out:
114.2 million articles is the offer of products within the platform.
700 million dollars moved within the platform, 88% more than in 2016.
400 million dollars were the net revenues of Mercado Libre in 2017; it represents 66% more than in 2016.
212 million registered users, 22% more than in 2016.
231.4 million transactions were made through MercadoPago, 66.8% more than the previous year.
53% of sales made through MercadoPago correspond to sessions from mobile devices.
The " Acept Bitcoin " phenomenon of Mercadolibre does not escape the countries of Latin America where currently there are no defined legal frameworks regarding the commerce and mining of cryptocurrencies. These are the cases of countries such as Honduras, Bolivia and Ecuador.
The page in Honduras is the one with the fewest publications related to cryptocurrencies, possibly due to the current restrictions in that country, where the Central Bank has stated that digital currencies do not have support in the territory.
The fact highlights the growing interest of the Latin American population in cryptocurrencies and the digital economy. A continent that is heading towards the future of cryptoeconomics and Blockchain technology , and where in recent years more than twenty cryptocurrencies have been born, as well as various initiatives that apply technology.
Technological innovations should not scare you, take it as an opportunity. Familiarize yourself with Bitcoin and take advantage of all its advantages without neglecting operations with traditional money.