Tether has committed $20 million to a strategic growth financing round for Mercado Bitcoin, deepening its push into Latin America’s regulated digital-asset infrastructure and backing the region’s largest crypto platform as it expands into tokenization, payments, credit, and capital markets.
The stablecoin issuer announced the investment on July 7, 2026, describing Mercado Bitcoin as Latin America’s leading on-chain financial services platform. The Brazilian company confirmed the round separately, with the capital injection totaling R$100 million, raised by 2TM, the holding company that owns Mercado Bitcoin.
From Exchange to Full-Stack Financial Platform
Founded in 2013, Mercado Bitcoin has grown well beyond its roots as a cryptocurrency exchange. The company now operates across trading infrastructure, tokenized investment products, credit and lending, stablecoin-powered payments, banking infrastructure, and cross-border financial services.
According to Tether’s announcement, Mercado Bitcoin serves 4.5 million users, has issued more than R$2 billion in tokenized assets, and holds more than 10 licenses across Brazil and Europe.
Its regulatory footprint includes a Payment Institution license from Brazil’s central bank (Banco Central do Brasil), along with broker-dealer capabilities, a securitization platform, and asset management operations. The platform has processed over R$155 billion in cumulative trading volume across crypto and stablecoins.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino framed the investment as a bet on that regulatory depth. “Mercado Bitcoin has built exactly that, a regulated, full-stack on-chain financial platform serving millions of users across one of the world’s most dynamic financial markets,” Ardoino said, adding that its combination of licensing, tokenization infrastructure, and integrated financial services was “unmatched in Latin America.”
Mercado Bitcoin’s chairman and CEO, Roberto Dagnoni, said the round would help the company scale infrastructure for tokenization, stablecoins, payments, and capital markets, calling on-chain finance’s shift from the crypto industry’s periphery to its center “already underway.”
A Unicorn Since 2021
Mercado Bitcoin’s holding company, 2TM, became Latin America’s first cryptocurrency unicorn in 2021, when a $200 million investment from SoftBank valued the business at $2.15 billion. The company’s updated valuation following Tether’s investment has not been disclosed.
Dagnoni, according to the same report, has also ruled out a near-term Brazilian stock listing despite 2TM being counted among roughly 15 SoftBank portfolio companies considered IPO-ready, though he pointed to potential progress on the U.S. CLARITY Act as a factor that could open the door to a future listing there.
Capital from the round will go toward expanding payments infrastructure, scaling tokenized investment products for retail and institutional investors, growing lending and credit capabilities, advancing on-chain capital markets, and continuing Mercado Bitcoin’s international expansion.
Part of a Broader Latin American Push
The Mercado Bitcoin deal extends a pattern of Tether investment across Latin America’s crypto and fintech sector. In April 2026, Tether led a $14 million Series A round for Belo, an Argentina-based crypto payments platform, to help it expand into Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Paraguay.
Tether has also backed Adecoagro, an agro-industrial company operating across Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil, as part of its broader strategy of investing in real-world infrastructure tied to its stablecoin ecosystem.
Brazil in particular has become a focal point for that strategy. Mercado Bitcoin has previously partnered with Ripple on blockchain-based cross-border payment infrastructure and with Mastercard on a regional crypto transfer pilot, positioning the company as a recurring bridge between traditional finance and blockchain rails in the country.
For Tether, the investment reinforces a strategy of backing platforms it sees as combining “regulatory depth, market scale and technology capable of expanding access to financial products,” according to the company’s announcement, as stablecoins and tokenization continue moving toward mainstream financial adoption.
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