Key takeaways
- Tether has invested $20 million in Mercado Bitcoin, accelerating the growth of tokenized assets and payment technology in Latin America.
- Brazilian police raided 87 shell companies as part of Operation Veil of Maya, cracking down on crypto money laundering.
- ABcripto has opposed plans to lock the stablecoin 24 hours a day, warning that it would disrupt fast, regulated transactions.
Tether expands its presence in Latin America with a $20 million investment in Mercado Bitcoin
Latin American markets and the companies regulated to serve them are attracting the attention of global companies looking to establish an institutional presence in the region.
Tether, the global stable coin company, disclosed a $20 million investment in Mercado Bitcoina Brazilian financial services company, in a strategic growth financing round also including SoftBank.
With these funds, Mercado Bitcoin will finance the improvement of the expansion of its payments infrastructure, tokenized investment offerings and on-chain capital markets, with the aim of expanding into other countries in the region.
The company, which has more than 4.5 million customers and operates in Brazil and Europe, has been characterized by Tether as “one of the most comprehensive regulated on-chain financial platforms in Latin America” and is part of a series of similar investments in payments and infrastructure companies that Tether is supporting in the region.
Operation Veil of Maya: Brazilian police dismantle massive illegal betting and crypto money laundering network
On Monday, Brazilian federal police executed Operation “Veil of Maya,” cracking down on an illegal betting network that used front companies to launder and redirect funds to these activities using fiat and digital currency.
The operation was named “Veil of Maya” because it represented a facade that prevented the appreciation of reality, meaning that these front companies presented objectives that hid their true objectives.
According to the Federal Police, 87 companies were targeted in this operation, but official figures on their volumes have not been revealed. The specific use of crypto assets in operations would be limited to the transfer of funds abroad.
Abcripto calls Central Bank of Brazil’s 24-hour stable coin lock ‘disproportionate’
ABcripto, the Brazilian crypto-economy association, which brings together industry giants such as Binance, Coinbase, Crypto.com and Tether, presented a paper opposing an earlier proposal from the central bank, which recommended a 24-hour lock-in window for stablecoin remittances.
According to local media, in a letter sent to the Department of Financial Regulation (Denor), ABcripto agrees that regulatory groups must pursue fraudulent and illicit activities, but asserts that this measure is disproportionate and must be preceded by further research into the Brazilian cryptocurrency market.
To justify this 24-hour lock on transactions exceeding $10,000, the bank cited a crypto crime report from Chainalysis, noting that illicit transaction volumes reached an all-time high in 2025.
