Valued at $ 2.2 billion, Mexican Bitso became the first unicorn in the cryptocurrency business in Latin America.
The update of the billionaire amount comes just after raising a $ 250 million in a financing round.
Daniel Vogel, the company’s CEO, told the Forbes this Wednesday (5th) that the investment will be invested in the expansion of the broker’s operations.
Bitso’s admission to the unicorn group comes at the moment when its retail operations begin in Brazil.
First unicorn exchange in Latin America
Inspired by the mythological creature, the term unicorn is used in the market to list the select group of companies valued over $ 1 billion.
Although the crypto-sphere already registers institutions of this size, Bitso is the first in Latin America to win the title. Now, the institution is valued at US $ 2.2 billion, more than R $ 11.8 billion.
The unprecedented registration of the platform was achieved after the investment of US $ 250 million, about R $ 1.3 billion, in a recent round of investments.
The round was led by investment companies Tiger Global and Coatue. In addition, the securities offer had other names in the market, such as Pantera Capital and Valor Capital Group.
According to Vogel, the amount raised will be used to expand Bitso in order to facilitate access to cryptocurrencies for local residents.
“We want to make sure that people in the region are benefiting from access to services built on blockchain,” said Vogel.
Performance in the Brazilian market
At the end of 2020, the company announced that it would start operating on Brazilian soil. At first, only institutional investors were served.
Now, Bitso aims to expand its business to retail. Marcos Jarne, ex-Nubank and CEO of Bitso in Brazil, was summoned to lead the market expansion.
“Our goal is to make cryptography useful in people’s lives,” Jarne told Reuters.
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