The LATAM tokenized-finance push got a tangible boost: Tether has invested $20 million in Mercado Bitcoin as part of a strategic financing round aimed at expanding blockchain-based financial services across Latin America Source.

Mercado Bitcoin says the platform serves 4.5 million users and has issued more than R$2 billion in tokenized assets, highlighting the scale of its on-chain financial offerings and the regulatory groundwork it has built with licenses across Brazil and Europe Source.

The deal is described by multiple outlets as the first closing of a larger Series C financing round expected to close by the end of 2026, signaling a broader stake in Mercado Bitcoin’s growth of on-chain capital markets and tokenized lending products Cointelegraph coverage.

In tandem with the financing, Mercado Bitcoin’s platform story notes more than 10 licenses across Brazil and Europe, including a Payment Institution license from Banco Central do Brasil, reinforcing a regulated backbone for cross-border tokenized debt and lending activities Mercado Bitcoin recebe aporte da maior emissora global de stablecoin.

February 2026 also saw the platform deploy over $20 million in tokenized private credit on the Rootstock sidechain, part of its growing RWA (real-world asset) debt issuance footprint Cointelegraph Rootstock coverage.

Industry trackers have cited Mercado Bitcoin as a notable player in tokenized private credit, a claim aligned with its ranking among the top 10 issuers globally per RWA.xyz listings and related market coverage Cointelegraph coverage.

All capital from this transaction flows into 2TM’s corporate treasury, with no secondary sales of existing shareholder equity, underscoring a treasury-centric use of the funding rather than an equity recapitalization Mercado Bitcoin receives coverage.

Taken together, the arrangement directly accelerates Mercado Bitcoin’s capacity to scale its blockchain-backed credit and lending operations, particularly tokenized private credit, while expanding the on-chain capital markets footprint in LATAM. The combination of licensed operations, Rootstock deployments, and stablecoin liquidity points to a more mature tokenized-debt market in the region.

Assetify angle: Tokenized lending in LATAM can scale when anchored by licensed infrastructure and stablecoin liquidity.