An online marketplace MercadoLibre, operating in 13 countries of Latin America, has introduced to the merchants a new payment option in bitcoins, on its PayPal-like payment system MercadoPago.

MercadoLibre means 'free market' in Spanish. Now the Argentina-registered platform enables merchants to receive payments in bitcoin free of charge. No special actions are required on behalf of the merchants. MercadoLibre will activate the new function so that customers can start paying in bitcoin at any time.

The platform offers the system of purchasing similar to eBay. Customers can bid on an item or buy it for a fixed price. To put it briefly, if MercadoLibre is Latin America's eBay, MercadoPago is its PayPal. The system allows users to pay via bank transfers, credit cards, and with alternative options. On average, nearly 3,000 users visit MercadoLibre per day. Most visitors come from Venezuela, Argentina and Mexico.

According to alexa.com statistics, the majority of users are male graduate students who access the website from their university campus.
CoinFox recently reported on the volatility of the Brazilian national currency, which is leading to an explosive interest in bitcoin. The digital currency bitcoin has been considered a solution for Venezuela's economy as well. However, this week the government-controlled telecommunication company CANTV started blocking bitcoin-related websites in Venezuela.

Aliona Chapel