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On Sunday, The Estadao newspaper reported that cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global (COIN) is in talks to acquire 2TM. The company owns Mercado Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Brazil.
According to the newspaper, negotiations between Coinbase and 2TM have been going on since 2021 and a deal could be announced by the end of April 2022.
Mercado Bitcoin reports that it will reach 3.2 million users by 2021, of which 1.1 million were new users last year, adding that their transaction volume reached 7.1 billion in 2021.
In June 2021, 2TM raised $200 million in the B Series funding round and $50 million in the second round of funding in November, which valued the company at $2.1 billion.
The cryptocurrency user boom in Brazil has caused the number of stablecoin transactions to triple in 2021. This prompted global exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance and Crypto.com to turn their attention to the Latin American country.
In November 2020, Coinbase announced the establishment of a technical center in Brazil and opened various locations to expand its company there.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said on March 16 during a business trip to Sao Paulo that, as for Binance, the company is planning to acquire Brazilian banks and payment processors. In the same month, the company signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to acquire Brazilian stockbroker Sim; paul Investimentos .
2TM CEO Roberto Dagnoni said the company plans to grow in Latin America through acquisitions in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. In January 2022, the company acquired the dominant stake in CriptoLoja, the first regulated cryptocurrency exchange in Portugal.
Besides owning Mercado Bitcoin, 2TM also owns MeuBank, MB Digital Assets, Bitrust, Blockchain Academy and MezaPro.
According to Estadao, Coinbase also considers Mexican cryptocurrency exchange Bitso a acquisition target but no deal has been set.
