Bitcoin’s adoption over the past year has been from institutional and retail investors. An increasing number of companies are holding bitcoins in their balance sheet as they diversify their portfolio. Latin America’s largest e-commerce platform is the latest company to invest in Bitcoin.
Mercado Libre now holds Bitcoin
Mercado Libre, the leading e-commerce platform in Latin America, has invested $7.8 million in Bitcoin. The company revealed this in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing yesterday.
According to Mercado Libre, the bitcoins were purchased at some point in the first quarter of the year. However, the company didn’t provide details of the exact date the bitcoins were purchased and at what price the order was executed. Mercado Libre wrote, “As part of our treasury strategy this quarter, we purchased $7.8 million in bitcoin, a digital asset that we are disclosing within our indefinite-lived intangible assets.”
Mercado Libre is currently the largest e-commerce platform in Latin America, with its headquarter in Buenos Aires. However, it is publicly listed in the United States, hence the reason why it is filing a SEC report.
The company reported excellent earnings in the first quarter of the year. Its revenue stood at $1.4 billion, 111.4% higher than the same quarter last year. It posted impressive figures in other key areas such as unique active users, the total payment volume, and successful items sold.
Mercado Libre joins other corporate Bitcoin holders
Mercado Libre has joined other leading companies in holding Bitcoin in its balance sheet. It joins the likes of Tesla and MicroStrategy, who hold billions of dollars in Bitcoin, while Square and Mogo have invested millions of dollars into the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin Treasuries show that MicroStrategy is the largest corporate holder of bitcoins, with $5.2 billion invested in the cryptocurrency. Tesla still holds $2.48 billion worth of bitcoins despite selling $272 million of its holdings a few weeks ago. Mercado Libre’s investment is minute compared to these industry leaders, it indicates a growing trend of corporate entities purchasing bitcoins and holding them in their balance sheets.
