Mercado Pago, the digital banking arm of Latin America’s preeminent e-commerce titan Mercado Libre (MELI), has announced the launch of a new stablecoin tethered to the U.S. dollar. This development, revealed on Wednesday, marks a significant expansion in the company’s financial offerings.

The new stablecoin, named Meli Dollar, will be available to Mercado Pago users in Brazil. This innovation allows users to conduct transactions involving the Meli Dollar using their Brazilian reais account balances, all without incurring transaction fees. The initiative is described as a means to provide a “practical and stable financial management tool.”

Previously, in August 2022, Mercado Libre introduced Mercado Coin, a cryptocurrency designed to facilitate marketplace purchases and offer cash-back rewards. This was part of a broader strategy that included integrating Paxos’ blockchain technology into Mercado Pago. This integration enabled Brazilian users to engage in transactions with bitcoin, ether, and Paxos’ Pax dollar (USDP).

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For this latest stablecoin initiative, Mercado Libre has enlisted Ripio, a prominent Latin American cryptocurrency enterprise, to act as the market maker. Ripio, known for its trading platform and wallet services in the region, previously collaborated with Mercado Pago on the development of Mercado Coin.

This strategic move by Mercado Libre follows closely on the heels of PayPal’s recent introduction of its own dollar-pegged stablecoin, PYUSD, which has recently approached a market capitalization of $1 billion.