Mexican bitcoin exchange Bitso has acquired competitor Unisend Mexico in an attempt to consolidate its market share in the region.
A relatively small exchange, Bitso's trading volume in the last 24 hours stood at approximately $7,671 (33.4 BTC) – less than 1% of US exchange Coinbase, which had reached $1.34m at the time of press.
Speaking to CoinDesk, Pablo González, CEO at Bitso, said:
"Although we feel strongly that the market is on the verge of significant growth, right now it doesn't really make sense to have such a diffused effort. Consolidation makes sense at this point, in preparation for the huge potential that we see coming with remittance partners poised to begin activity over the bitcoin rail."
Bitso, which acquired Unisend Mexico for an undisclosed amount, will be taking on Jose Rodriguez, its former CEO, as vice president of payments.
Commenting on the acquisition, Rodriguez was confident the new team would accelerate growth and surpass competitors Volabit and Mexbt to become the leading bitcoin exchange in the country.
Fomer Unisend customers will be migrated to Bitso, according to the pair.
As previously reported by CoinDesk, Bitso launched an e-commerce platform and point-of-sale (POS) system, BitsoPagos in January this year.
Gonzalez, who said the bitcoin market is set to "boom", seemed positive about the digital currency's future, noting how it could help Mexico's remittance market and cross-border payments.
The merger follows the closure of various bitcoin exchanges including Canada's CARVITEX – later acquired by New York platform Coinsetter in April – and Vault of Satoshi.
Elsewhere, BTCXIndia shut down operations in May.
Disclaimer: CoinDesk founder Shakil Khan is an investor in BitPay.
Mexican flag image via Shutterstock