Mercado Libre Discontinues Brazil-Based Cryptocurrency Loyalty Token

Mercado Libre's decision to discontinue Mercado Coin marks the latest development in the company's fintech expansion efforts.

The loyalty token was introduced by Mercado Libre in August 2022 as a cashback reward on its e-commerce platform, allowing users to earn tokens for purchases made through the marketplace. The token was built on the Ethereum blockchain and initially priced at $0.10 per unit.

Despite its initial promise, Mercado Coin struggled to gain traction outside of the Mercado Libre ecosystem, with no active secondary market or meaningful external liquidity. As a result, users will be able to sell their tokens through the Mercado Pago app or spend them on platform purchases before April 17, 2026.

After this date, any remaining balance will be automatically converted to local fiat currency and deposited into the user's Mercado Pago account. This move is part of a broader trend among large tech companies to step back from proprietary digital assets and focus on more established infrastructure like stablecoins and direct crypto trading.