MercadoLibre green lights crypto ban following PayPal investment

Latin American e-commerce venture, MercadoLibre, has announced a cryptocurrency-related listings ban on its platform.

In an email sent to vendors, it says that it is also cracking down on pre-paid cards used for games. This will come into effect on 19th March. It hasn't revealed why it is going down this route, but it should be noted that the venture recently received a $750 million investment from PayPal.

“Over the past 20 years, we have heavily invested in developing the preeminent e-commerce and FinTech ecosystem in Latin America,” said Marcos Galperin, CEO at Mercado Libre. “This investment will allow us to significantly accelerate our growth. We look forward to accelerating our leadership in e-commerce and payments and foster financial inclusion in Latin America as a result of our alliance with a global leader in the industry such as PayPal.”

“Digital commerce in Latin America is experiencing tremendous growth and MercadoLibre is well-positioned for continued leadership,” commented Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal. “We’ve been impressed with the digital commerce and payments ecosystem Marcos and his team have built. We see great opportunities to integrate our respective capabilities to create unique and valuable payment experiences for our combined 500 million customers throughout the region and around the world.”