Mercado Bitcoin’s 2021 Series B deck is a masterclass in demonstrating market dominance and regulatory maturity. Operating under the 2TM Group umbrella, the company positions itself as more than just an exchange, showcasing a '3-in-1' platform covering trading, custody, and distribution. With 2.8 million registered clients and a year-to-date trading volume of R$ 24.7 billion by May 2021, the traction was undeniable. The deck leans heavily into the 'moat' of regulatory approval in Brazil, citing specific central bank communications and partnerships with entities like KPMG and CVM. While it lac…
Key takeaways
- The company positions itself as a '3-in-1' platform spanning Trading, Custody, and Distribution to disintermediate the financial market (Slide 2).
- Mercado Bitcoin is the largest crypto exchange in LatAm with over 44 coins listed as of mid-2021 (Slide 3).
- The ecosystem includes Meubank, a 'Wallet of Wallets' designed for storing and using cash, investments, and crypto (Slide 4).
- Regulatory compliance is a core pillar, with the deck citing specific Brazilian Central Bank and CVM (SEC) rulings to de-risk the investment (Slide 7).
- Social media dominance is used as a competitive metric, showing Mercado Bitcoin with 185k Instagram followers, significantly outpacing Binance Brazil's 58.5k (Slide 8).
- User growth reached 2.8 million total clients by May 2021, with 700k added in the first five months of that year alone (Slide 9).
- Trading volume reached R$ 24.7 billion in the Jan-May 2021 period, which was 3.9x larger than the entirety of 2020 (Slide 10).
- The deck identifies five clear growth vectors: International Expansion, New Products, New Clients, Platform Improvement, and M&A (Slide 11).
The 2TM / Mercado Bitcoin Series B Teardown
In 2021, the parent company of Mercado Bitcoin, 2TM Group, raised $200 million in a Series B round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. This deck represents the transition of a regional crypto exchange into a diversified digital assets conglomerate. At the time of this raise, the crypto market was experiencing a massive bull run, and Mercado Bitcoin was perfectly positioned as the gateway for the Brazilian market.
Slide 1: Title and Brand Ecosystem
The opening slide features the 2TM logo—a rocket ship—alongside the logos of its subsidiary companies. This immediately signals that the investment is not just in an exchange (Mercado Bitcoin), but in a holding company with a diversified portfolio including Meubank, MBDA, and Bitrust. The topographic background suggests a 'mapping' of new territory, a theme that continues throughout the deck.
Slide 2: The 3-in-1 Value Proposition
Slide 2 uses a 3D coordinate system to plot 2TM against traditional financial players like BNY Mellon and XP. By placing themselves at the intersection of Trading, Custody, and Distribution , they claim a unique space that traditional banks or pure-play exchanges don't fully occupy. The text highlights 'disintermediation' and 'democratization,' standard fintech tropes that are backed here by a structural diagram.
Slide 3: Infrastructure and Subsidiary Map
This slide is a 'honeycomb' diagram of the 2TM ecosystem. It categorizes their offerings into Digital Wallet, Crypto Hub, Crypto Exchange, OTC, Crypto Funds, Digital Assets, Digital Custody, Education, Traditional Assets, and Equity Tokens . Notably, it mentions that the 'Traditional Assets' and 'Crypto Funds' segments were bolstered by acquisitions made in May 2021. This shows the company was already using capital for M&A to consolidate the market before this round closed.
Slide 4: Meubank – The Wallet of Wallets
Focusing on the 'Use' case, slide 4 introduces Meubank. It describes a 'Token to Token' economy where users can store cash, investments, crypto, and even in-game miles. The right side of the slide lists actions: Pay, Purchase, Invest, Redeem, and Transfer. This is a clear attempt to show that 2TM is building a 'Super App' for finance, moving beyond the speculative nature of crypto trading into daily utility.
Slide 5: Tokenization Potential
Slide 5 is a checklist of what can be tokenized. It is divided into 'Traditional Assets' (Public Debt, Real Estate, Private Debt) and 'New Economy' (Carbon Credits, FuteCoins, Fan Tokens). By checking off items like 'Public Debt' and 'Carbon Credits,' they demonstrate that their technology is already live and generating 'high and unattended demand.' This slide serves to prove the size of the addressable market for tokenization.
Slide 6: Custody and Security Credentials
For institutional investors, custody is the biggest hurdle. Slide 6 addresses this by name-dropping KPMG, CVM, and BACEN . They highlight their partnership with Kryptus for cryptography and mention that Mercado Bitcoin has been operating since 2013. The footer contains dense text about their participation in the US Chamber of Digital Commerce and the Brazilian delegation for CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency), which establishes them as a policy-shaping entity, not just a startup.
Slide 7: Regulatory Landscape in Brazil
This is perhaps the most important slide for a $200M raise. It lists specific Brazilian regulatory milestones from 2017 to 2021. It quotes the Brazilian Central Bank's commitment to innovation and the CVM's approval of the first Bitcoin ETF in March 2021. By showing that the government is 'pro-crypto,' 2TM removes the 'regulatory risk' objection that often plagues crypto investments.
Slide 8: Social Media Dominance
In a consumer-facing business, brand is everything. Slide 8 compares Mercado Bitcoin’s social media following to competitors like BitcoinTrade, Foxbit, and Binance Brazil. With 185k Instagram followers and 128k YouTube subscribers , they dwarf the local presence of global giant Binance (which is listed with 58.5k Instagram followers for its Portuguese account). This is a 'winner-takes-most' argument based on community size.
Slide 9: User Growth Metrics
The traction slide shows a bar chart of the client base from 2013 to 2021. The growth is exponential: from 1.1 million in 2018 to 2.8 million by May 2021. Key callouts include 1 million clients with custody and 306k Monthly Active Users (MAU) . A 41% client conversion rate (M0+M1) is cited, indicating strong onboarding efficiency.
Slide 10: Trading Volume Explosion
Slide 10 focuses on the 'money' metrics. It shows that year-to-date (Jan-May 2021) trading volume reached R$ 24.7 Billion . This was 3.9x larger than the entire year of 2020. The chart shows a peak in March 2021 at R$ 6.075 billion. This data proves that the platform can handle massive scale and that the revenue (presumably tied to volume) is skyrocketing.
Slide 11: Growth Vectors
The penultimate content slide lists five 'optionalities': International Expansion, New Products, New Clients, Technology Improvement, and M&A . It’s a standard 'where the money is going' slide. The mention of 'Strategic expansion to other countries' suggests that 2TM viewed Brazil as a solved problem and was ready to take the model to the rest of LatAm or Europe.
Slide 12-13: Closing and Attribution
The deck ends with a stylized space-themed graphic and the 2TM logo, followed by a standard attribution slide. There is no 'Ask' slide in this version of the deck, which is common for high-profile Series B rounds where the terms are often negotiated via a term sheet before the full deck is circulated to the wider syndicate.
What Mercado Bitcoin Does Well
Regulatory De-risking: They spend a significant amount of real estate (Slides 6 and 7) proving they are 'the' regulated player in the region. This is catnip for institutional VCs like SoftBank. · Ecosystem Breadth: They successfully argue that they are an infrastructure play, not just an exchange. The 'honeycomb' on Slide 3 makes the company look much larger and more defensible than a single-product startup. · Local Dominance: By comparing themselves directly to Binance on social media metrics, they claim the 'home field advantage' which is a powerful narrative for regional leaders.
What is Missing from the Deck
Team Bios: There are no slides introducing the founders or the executive team. While the company was well-known by 2021, investors usually want to see the pedigree of the people managing $200M. · Financial Projections: While trading volume is shown, there is no mention of P&L, burn rate, or EBITDA. For a Series B, these are usually expected, though they may have been provided in a separate data room. · Unit Economics: There is no data on Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) or Lifetime Value (LTV), which are critical for understanding if the 700k new users were acquired profitably.
What Other Founders Should Copy
The '3-in-1' Visualization: Using a 3D axis to show how you sit at the intersection of multiple industries is a great way to define a new category. · Regulatory Timelines: If you operate in a complex or 'grey' industry, creating a slide that shows the positive evolution of the law (as seen on Slide 7) is essential for building investor confidence. · Comparative Social Proof: Don't just show your numbers; show them in the context of your biggest competitors. Mercado Bitcoin’s social media comparison is a simple, visual way to prove market share.
Frequently asked questions
- What was the primary goal of this pitch deck?
- The deck was used for a Series B round in 2021 to raise $200 million. Its primary goal was to demonstrate that Mercado Bitcoin (2TM) had moved beyond being a simple crypto exchange to becoming a full-stack financial infrastructure provider in Latin America, backed by massive user growth and a favorable regulatory environment in Brazil.
- How does Mercado Bitcoin differentiate itself from global competitors like Binance?
- On slide 8, the company uses social media metrics to show local dominance, claiming higher engagement across Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter compared to Binance Brazil. Additionally, slide 7 emphasizes their direct contact with COAF and compliance with local KYC/AML standards, positioning them as the 'safe' and 'regulated' local choice.
- What are the '3-in-1' platform components mentioned in the deck?
- As shown on slide 2, the '3-in-1' platform integrates Trading, Custody, and Distribution. This vertical integration allows them to control the entire lifecycle of a digital asset, from tokenization and storage to the final exchange between users, which they describe as the next frontier in financial democratization.
- What specific types of assets does Mercado Bitcoin tokenize?
- Slide 5 outlines a broad range of tokenization potential. Under 'Traditional Assets,' they list public debt, real estate, and private debt. Under 'New Economy,' they highlight ESG assets like carbon credits, sports assets like 'FuteCoins' and fan tokens, and rewards like cashback and NFTs.
- Is there a team slide in the Mercado Bitcoin deck?
- No, this specific 13-slide version of the deck omits individual team biographies or an organizational chart. It focuses instead on the corporate structure of the 2TM Group and its various subsidiaries like Meubank, Bitrust, and Blockchain Academy, relying on the company's established market position rather than individual founder profiles.
