Ripio announces acquisition of BitcoinTrade, Brazil's second-largest crypto exchange

Startups • January 5, 2021, 11:28AM EST
SmartiCo/ Pixabay

Digital asset services firm Ripio said Tuesday that it acquired BitcoinTrade, Brazil’s second-largest crypto exchange, for an undisclosed amount. Ripio plans to bolster its presence in Brazil and across Latin America with the move. 

"We’re very excited and confident that Ripio is the best choice to help extend the path we’ve built with BitcoinTrade in Brazil,” said BitcoinTrade founder Carlos Andre Montenegro in a press statement. Montenegro will exit his role as CEO but remain at Ripio, with BitTrade CFO Bernardo Teixeira taking over as chief executive.

BitcoinTrade was founded in 2017 and is now one of the main cryptocurrency exchanges in the country. 

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

As previously reported by The Block, Ripio is one of a number of firms in Latin America that are advancing crypto-centric transactions in the region — particularly in the context of stablecoins. Ripio previously said that saw a significant jump in stablecoin activity during the first and second trimesters of 2020, chiefly in Argentina.

 

 

About Author

MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020 — joining just before bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for the publication, covering any and all crypto news but with a penchant toward NFT, metaverse, web3 gaming, funding, crime, hack and crypto ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. You can follow MK on X @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.

More by MK Manoylov