CoinBR Acquires Coinverse in Latest Exchange Merger

CoinBR has acquired bitcoin banking platform Coinverse in an undisclosed deal that will find the two Brazil-based companies consolidating.

Following the deal, CoinBR is looking to expand aggressively, according to chairman Rocelo Lopes, who estimated the company could purchase as many as four competitors as it seeks to create a market-leading universal bitcoin company for Brazil.

Lopes indicated that CoinBR will seek to acquire a merchant processor to complement its existing mining, exchange and wallet services, a purchase made possible through profits from his bitcoin mining operations and Sao Paulo-based VoIP provider Othos Telecomunicacoes.

As part of the deal, Coinverse CEO Safiri Felix will become CoinBR's chief officer.

Felix told CoinDesk:

"We see the growth of Coinbase and Circle and these kind of services. Here in Brazil, even more than Latin America, there is a clear opportunity to build this kind of business."

Felix suggested that by becoming a larger, 10-person company, CoinBR could create a greater product and capture the attention of Brazilian consumers.

"I think it will take a little while before people are talking about how to use the blockchain, it was the same thing in the US, where it was first, trade, trade, trade," he continued. "There are a lot of things to grow to get to that point."

Companies from the US, he said, would be at an inherent disadvantage in the market in terms of establishing banking partnerships and complying with local laws.

The acquisition is the latest in the Latin American market, following Bitso's purchase of Unisend Mexico earlier this month.

Sao Paulo image via Shutterstock