Bitcoin Gains Deeper Foothold In Latin America Through MercadoLibre

Latin America's version of eBay Inc EBAY, MercadoLibre, has announced that it will be integrating bitcoin payments into its services. The move represents a big win for the cryptocurrency community, which has long promoted bitcoin usage in regions like Latin America where a large percentage of the population are still unbanked.

Bitcoin Improves Service

MercadoLibre sent an email notification to users announcing its plans to integrate bitcoin and saying that the decision will give merchants a wider reach and customers more options. The site is planning to make bitcoin integration subtle and said that merchants won't see much change to their user experience other than a note in their transaction history saying which payments were made via digital currencies.

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Not Quite Yet

While MercadoLibre has announced its plans, it is still unclear how the rollout will take place. The site currently serves 13 Latin American countries and it is unknown how many will receive a bitcoin option. The site will also have to deal with the changing regulations regarding bitcoin payments as the cryptocurrency evolves and spreads across the globe.

Latin American Potential

Bitcoin has long been touted as a good option for countries where much of the population has limited access to banking facilities. Bitcoin has also proven to be a viable alternative for those living in a country where the currency is prone to volatility. For that reason, many believe that bitcoin's expansion into Latin America is an important step forward. However, the cryptocurrency is likely to face some obstacles there as well since over half of the population doesn't have access to the Internet.