Tether is investing $20 million in Mercado Bitcoin as part of a strategic financing round, the company announced Tuesday. The move strengthens its commitment to expanding blockchain-based financial infrastructure in Latin America.

Mercado Bitcoin, one of the region’s largest regulated digital asset platforms, serves 4.5 million customers and has issued more than R$2 billion in tokenized assets.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the investment reflects confidence in the company’s regulated digital financial platform and its leadership in tokenization and blockchain-based financial services across Latin America.

“Tether’s mission is to build open, accessible, and efficient financial infrastructure for the world. Mercado Bitcoin has built exactly that,” Ardoino stated. “Its depth of regulatory licensing, tokenization infrastructure, and integrated financial services is unmatched in Latin America. We look forward to supporting Mercado Bitcoin’s next phase of growth as a strategic partner and investor.”

Beyond crypto trading, Mercado Bitcoin now offers services spanning payments, lending, tokenization, banking infrastructure and cross-border finance under more than 10 licenses in Brazil and Europe.

The funding will support Mercado Bitcoin’s growth in tokenized investments, payments, credit and on-chain capital markets, while advancing Tether’s strategy of investing in companies developing practical blockchain infrastructure for mainstream financial services.

“The discussion is no longer whether finance will move on-chain,” Roberto Dagnoni, Chairman and CEO of Mercado Bitcoin, said. “The focus now is on building the infrastructure that will support tokenization, stablecoins, payments, and capital markets at scale, reshaping how money moves, investments are accessed, and capital is deployed.”

“This investment strengthens our ability to accelerate the next generation of on-chain financial services in Brazil and across global markets,” he added.