Mercado Libre Abandons Mercado Coin, Doubles Down on Stablecoin Strategy Instead

Mercado Libre, Latin America's e-commerce powerhouse, is pulling the plug on Mercado Coin—its rewards-based loyalty token launched in August 2022. According to Reuters, users have until April 17 to sell or spend their Mercado Coin balances through the Mercado Pago app, or face automatic conversion to Brazilian reals.

The End of Mercado Coin

The shutdown signals a strategic pivot for the platform, which originally designed Mercado Coin to deliver cashback and perks to users purchasing on its marketplace. Brazil became the primary battleground for this experiment, but the token failed to gain meaningful traction. The move echoes broader challenges facing in-house crypto tokens across the region—a space that's proven far more complex than initial hype suggested.

What's interesting here isn't just the failure, but Mercado Libre's measured response. Rather than abandoning crypto rewards entirely, the e-commerce giant is redirecting its efforts toward something arguably more practical: stablecoins.

The Stablecoin Shift: Meet Meli Dolar (MUSD)

Mercado Libre launched Meli Dolar (MUSD), a US-dollar stablecoin, in 2024—positioning it as the successor to Mercado Coin's loyalty function. The crypto analysis shows MUSD gaining real utility: customers use it for everyday transactions and peer-to-peer payments directly within the ecosystem. Meli+ subscribers even earn cashback on MUSD purchases, essentially recapturing the rewards angle that made Mercado Coin theoretically attractive.

The numbers matter here. According to Mercado Libre's February 28 attestation report, MUSD balances are backed by $75 million in assets—suggesting genuine reserve backing rather than speculative tokenomics.

Learning from Nubank's Cautionary Tale

Mercado Libre's pivot becomes more strategic when we examine what happened to Nubank, Brazil's largest bank. Nubank launched Nucoin (a Polygon-based token) in late 2022 with massive fanfare, airdropping tokens to over 100 million customers. By September 2024, the token had cratered 97% in value—a brutal reminder that retail-focused crypto tokens need more than distribution to survive.

Rather than doubling down, Nubank restructured its entire approach in July, stripping away market-based features and repositioning Nucoin as a pure engagement rewards program. Mercado Libre seems to be learning from this playbook: skip the volatile token economics, focus on stablecoin utility.

Bitcoin Holdings Paint a Different Picture

Here's where things get interesting for trading considerations: while Mercado Libre ditches its utility token, it's quietly crushing it with Bitcoin portfolio management. The company holds 570.4 BTC worth $38.85 million on its balance sheet—purchased at an average price of $38,569 since its first buy in 2021.

The math here: Mercado Libre is sitting on a 77% unrealized gain. Never sold a coin. That's institutional conviction in bitcoin as a treasury asset that contrasts sharply with its failed experiment in building proprietary loyalty tokens.