Latin American digital asset platform Mercado Bitcoin has announced that it has deployed over $20 million of tokenized private credit to its Bitcoin sidechain Rootstock, deepening its expansion into real-world assets (RWA) and targeting $100 million in issuance by April.
According to a release shared with Cointelegraph, several services have already reached their target capacity since going live.
The move adds Rootstock to Mercado Bitcoin's multi-chain tokenization strategy, which includes planned RWA issuances on Stellar (XLM) and the XRP Ledger, providing international investors with Bitcoin-backed exposure to Latin American private debt markets.
Lukas Pinsdorf, business director of Mercado Bitcoin, told Cointelegraph that the newly issued assets include a mix of debt and corporate bonds that will support both Brazilian and foreign borrowers.
“What is particularly interesting is that these are not limited to Brazilian companies,” he says. “Among the issuances, Mercado Bitcoin also chose to issue bonds for American companies.”
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Globally expanding RWA demand
Pinsdorf said the initial $20 million offering sold out quickly, increasing his confidence that the $100 million goal “will sell out quickly.”
According to RWA.xyz data, Mercado Bitcoin ranks among the top 10 tokenized private credit issuers in the world, with cumulative loan volume exceeding $370 million.
Still, it's far from the market leader. The top three issuers tracked by RWA.xyz each issue at least $5.4 billion.
Private credit platform. sauce: RWA.xyz
Pinsdorf said Mercado Bitcoin constitutes a private credit token within Brazil's regulatory framework, leveraging a license within the group supervised by the country's Monetary Commission (CVM) and Brazil's Central Bank.
Tokenized credit competition in Latin America
Mercado Bitcoin’s RWA pipeline follows a broader regional movement to bring yield-bearing products on-chain.
In Argentina, long-standing cryptocurrency exchange Lipio recently launched local currency stablecoins and tokenized sovereign exposure, as Latin American issuers look to bridge traditional credit markets and blockchain liquidity.
Pinsdorf said Mercado continues to work with regulators to shape a roadmap for tokenized finance.
“We hope to see a clearer and more objective framework for how the path to tokenization in financial markets will be paved,” he said.
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