Brazil’s largest crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin integrates INJ

Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has integrated INJ, the native token of the Layer-1 Injective blockchain.

According to Injective’s December 23 post, INJ, the native utility and governance token of the Layer-1 Injective blockchain, has now been officially integrated into the oldest Latin American exchange.

This move will allow more than 3 million Mercado Bitcoin customers to directly access the Injective ecosystem using fiat currencies such as the Brazilian Real through a fiat-to-crypto gateway. Thus, users will be able to interact with Injective’s decentralized finance ecosystem, which currently has a total value locked of over $43 million, according to Defillama.

Following the development, INJ price increased by approximately 15.6%, rising from $ 20.52 to $ 23.72, which was the 24-hour low in the early trading hours of December 24.

Founded in 2013, Mercado Bitcoin has become one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Latin America and is actively working to improve financial accessibility in Brazil through strategic collaborations with leading blockchain projects.

The platform announced its partnership with blockchain payments company Ripple on October 3, becoming the first business to integrate Ripple Payments.

This end-to-end solution provides businesses and users with faster, cheaper cross-border transactions, enhanced security and real-time liquidity optimization. The integration also supports direct payments in Brazilian Real, serving both individual and corporate customers while streamlining treasury operations for clearing between Brazil and Portugal.

Mercado Bitcoin also became one of the first exchanges to list Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLUSD), on December 17.

In addition, the exchange has established important partnerships with global payment giants such as Mastercard. In May 2024, the exchange collaborated with Mastercard to enable live trading capabilities in the Latin American and European corridors.