Here's Why MercadoLibre Bought Bitcoin

Latin America's leading e-commerce platform MercadoLibre (NASDAQ: MELI) had a stellar first quarter of 2021. Total revenue surged 111% higher year over year (or up 158% when excluding foreign currency exchange rates) as online shopping caught up to developed-market levels in countries like Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. 

But buried in the earnings release was a mention that the company started purchasing Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) during the first few months of the year -- $7.8 million worth, to be exact. No word on whether MercadoLibre will continue buying the top cryptocurrency or not, but it did say the acquisition was part of its "treasury strategy." What's that supposed to mean? 

One argument made for owning Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is because they're a store of value -- meaning they will hold their value better than a fiat currency issued and backed by a government. For a business operating in Latin America, this has some merit. Due to a confluence of economic factors, currencies like the Argentine peso and Brazilian real (pronounced "hey-ow" in Portuguese) have historically been volatile.

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Source Fool.com