Mercari users can buy Bitcoin from spring 2023

Online flea market Mercari will offer a new feature to allow users to buy Bitcoin from its app in the spring of 2023.

The new function was revealed during the “Mercari Fintech Business Strategy Presentation 2022,” held on November 8 to announce the positioning of fintech in the group’s business plan.

Melcoin, a subsidiary that develops crypto asset and blockchain services established in April 2021 and registered as a crypto asset exchange in June, is responsible for providing the function.

Users who have already completed identity verification on the “Mercari” app can apply to open a crypto asset trading account with MELCOIN in as little as one minute. They can also buy Bitcoins within the app using their proceeds from previous sales of their items . For the time being, users can buy Bitcoin only, but Mercari added, “We will strengthen the linkage of payment and credit in fintech, and expand the ecosystem in which all kinds of value circulate, not only goods and money, but also credits, NFTs, and crypto assets.

The Japan-headquartered company also announced it will issue its first credit card, Melcard and offer point rewards constantly. The Melcard application can be completed in as little as one minute for users whose identity has been verified.

In 2019, Mercari began allowing users to verify their identity using only the app. Since then, the company has become the first in the mobile payment industry to add a function to verify identity using a “My Number” card. The number of users who have completed identity verification has now grown to 12.16 million. Mercari said the existence of such users is one of the competitive advantages that will help make it easier to apply for new fintech services to be launched in the future.