The latest report suggests that Coinbase’s acquisition of 2TM will give the exchange leverage to quickly expand its presence in Latin America.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is reportedly working on a deal to acquire one of Brazil’s biggest crypto companies 2TM. The talks of the acquisition had reportedly started last year as Coinbase looks to broader its operations in Latin America.
Coinbase and 2TM
Local newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo was the first to break out this news. However, we have yet to get any official confirmation from 2TM or Coinbase. Basically, 2TM is a Brazilian crypto company that controls Latin America’s largest crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin. The Coinbase deal will reportedly get official by April end.
Coinbase’s acquisition of 2TM will give the cryptocurrency exchange enough leverage to secure its position as a market leader in Latin America. Last June 2021, 2TM raised $200 million in the Series B funding round and secured another $50 million in the second funding round in November 2021. This helped the company’s valuations to skyrocket at $2.2 billion.
Note that this valuation includes the collective holding behind Mercado Bitcoin, Meubank, MB Digital Assets, Bitrust, Blockchain Academy e MezaPro. Furthermore, the Brazilian crypto unicorn 2TM has been on an acquisition spree last year. The Coinbase acquisition will also help 2TM to expand its reach to other parts of the world such as Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Argentina.
But Coinbase is not the only major exchange seeing potential opportunity in Latin America. Crypto exchange Binance is also making a major move.
Binance’s Expansion in Brazil
As per the local publication, crypto exchange Binance is also looking for further expansions in Brazil. The country’s crypto market has exploded over the last year reaching a size of to reach 120 billion reais ($25.3 billion).
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has been on a recent tour to Latin America earlier this month. Last week when he was in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he spoke about his company’s plans to acquire some banks and payments processing firms in Brazil.
Furthermore, the company has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for acquiring Brazilian securities brokerage Simpaul Investimentos. Last week, the Binance CEO also made a visit to El Salvador, the first country to make Bitcoin a legal tender.
It seems the hot crypto market of Latin America is likely to attract more businesses going ahead this year.
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