Tether plans to invest $20 million in a strategic growth financing round for Mercado Bitcoin, the Brazil-based on-chain financial services platform, the companies announced on July 7.

The round is framed as strategic growth financing rather than a traditional VC stage and is intended to deepen the commercial relationship between the stablecoin issuer and Mercado Bitcoin. The companies did not disclose the valuation or other participating investors.

Founded in 2013, Mercado Bitcoin has expanded from a digital asset exchange into a multi-product, regulated financial services platform. Its stack spans trading and exchange infrastructure, tokenized investment products, credit and lending, stablecoin-based payments, banking rails and cross-border services.

The firm says it serves 4.5 million users, has issued more than R$2 billion in tokenized assets and operates more than 10 licenses across Brazil and Europe. Its regulated footprint includes a Payment Institution license from the Banco Central do Brasil, broker-dealer capabilities, a securitization platform and asset management services.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said in the announcement that Mercado Bitcoin has built “a regulated, full-stack on-chain financial platform serving millions of users across one of the world’s most dynamic financial markets,” adding that its regulatory licensing and tokenization capabilities are “unmatched in Latin America.”

Mercado Bitcoin positions itself as core infrastructure as Brazil’s financial system experiments with tokenization, stablecoins and blockchain-based rails. The company has been involved in connecting local regulatory-compliant structures with blockchain-native products for institutions and retail.

“The discussion is no longer whether finance will move on-chain. That transition is already underway,” said Roberto Dagnoni, chairman and CEO of Mercado Bitcoin. He said the firm has spent more than a decade building the regulated foundation for this shift and that the new capital will help accelerate on-chain financial services in Brazil and other markets.

Use of proceeds will focus on expanding payments infrastructure, scaling tokenized investment offerings for both retail and institutional clients, growing lending and credit products, advancing on-chain capital markets initiatives and supporting strategic partnerships and international expansion.

Tether said the deal fits its broader strategy of backing companies that build practical, regulated financial infrastructure using stablecoins and tokenization. As stablecoin and RWA activity in Brazil increases, the partnership is intended to give Tether deeper distribution and on-the-ground connectivity into one of the largest digital asset markets in Latin America.

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