Mercado Bitcoin: M&A, IPO, or Series B?

In April 2021, Brazilian cryptocurrency platform Mercado Bitcoin had to decide how to scale: go public, M&A with a bank, or take a VC big check. In a highly volatile market, Roberto Dagnoni, chairman of the board, viewed the unprecedent crypto momentum as a window of opportunity for achieving the liquidity they needed to accelerate the company’s expansion plans. In a striking twist of events for Mercado Bitcoin, which had just closed a challenging Series-A capital round after a year of hard negotiations, while considering an Initial Public Offering (IPO), the company was approached by the M&A teams of two large banks. And SoftBank, the largest-ever technology-focused fund in Latin America, presented a tempting term sheet. The case goes through the history of Mercado Bitcoin, from being the first Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange platform into becoming one of the largest crypto asset exchanges in Latin America; the challenges faced throughout it, from market swings to the lack of regulatory infrastructure; up to the dilemma point, presenting the cons and pros of the three options, viewing the company’s insights, revenue forecasts, and comparatives of reference companies.