Mercado Bitcoin review: PAXG in reais

Verdict and score

Mercado Bitcoin is a long-running Brazilian crypto exchange, and it offers PAX Gold against the real. For Brazilian residents who already use it for bitcoin, adding a gold token takes a few taps. PAX Gold (PAXG) is issued by Paxos Trust Company, N.A., and each token stands for one fine troy ounce of gold held in London vaults. You can learn the basics in our guide to what PAX Gold is.

Our score is 6.6 out of 10. Local funding is good, and the brand is familiar. But the PAXG/BRL market showed only about US$4,000 of trading volume over 24 hours on aggregator data from 12 October 2026, and we could not read the exchange’s fee schedule. An honest review has to mark those gaps down. If fees and depth matter more to you than the brand, our Foxbit review covers the other domestic PAXG/BRL venue.

Mercado Bitcoin at a glance

Mercado Bitcoin’s website and public API both blocked automated requests during our research on 12 October 2026. The facts below therefore lean on aggregator data and on Brazil’s regulatory texts. We mark what we could not confirm instead of filling the gaps with guesses.

PAXG/BRL liquidity

The PAXG/BRL pair on Mercado Bitcoin appeared on both CoinGecko and CoinPaprika on 12 October 2026, with about US$4,000 of volume over the previous 24 hours. To put that in perspective, PAXG traded at roughly US$4,170 per token that day. So the whole day’s activity was close to one ounce of gold. Global PAXG/USDT books on large exchanges trade many times that.

A thin book is not a dealbreaker for a small, long-term purchase. It does mean the price you see can sit a little away from the value of the gold behind the token. That gap tends to widen at weekends, when the international gold market is closed but crypto keeps trading. Our PAX Gold price page explains why PAXG can trade at a premium or discount to spot.

A simple test helps. Take the live gold price, convert it into reais with our gold calculator, and compare it with the best ask on Mercado Bitcoin. If the ask is well above that figure, wait, use a limit order, or check Foxbit’s book.

Fees

We tried to read Mercado Bitcoin’s fees and limits page on 12 October 2026. The server returned an access error, so we cannot print its maker, taker or withdrawal fees. We would rather leave the cell blank than repeat a number we cannot date.

What we can do is give you a yardstick. The table below sets out what we confirmed for each Brazilian PAXG/BRL venue on the same day. Use it as a checklist when you open the fee screen inside your account.

Keep in mind that PAXG has no on-chain transfer fee from Paxos today. Any cost to move tokens off the exchange is the exchange’s withdrawal fee plus the network cost. Our guide to PAXG fees and redemption explains what Paxos charges and what it does not.

Pix and withdrawals

Pix is the standard way to fund a Brazilian exchange in reais, and Mercado Bitcoin accepts it. The practical benefit is speed: money usually arrives quickly, and you can act on a price you have already checked. We could not confirm deposit limits or any Pix fee, because those sit on the fee page that blocked our request.

If you plan to move PAXG to your own wallet, check the network on the withdrawal screen before you send. The official Ethereum contract is 0x45804880De22913dAFE09f4980848ECE6EcbAf78. Paxos added Solana as an official network on 25 June 2026, but it has not published the Solana mint address in a form we could verify, so check paxos.com before trusting any Solana token. There is no official PAXG on BSC or Arbitrum. Our networks guide covers this in detail.

Regulation and safety

Brazil regulates crypto service providers through the Banco Central do Brasil under Law 14.478/2022. The CVM covers security tokens. The central bank’s Resolutions 519, 520 and 521 took effect on 2 February 2026. They set out the authorisation process, create licensed SPSAV firms in three classes, and treat some crypto activity as foreign-exchange business.

Firms already operating have 270 days from 2 February 2026 to apply. Resolution 548 gives the central bank up to three years to decide. The press reported minimum capital of about R$10.8 million to R$37.2 million, depending on the activity. As of 12 October 2026, we found no public list of granted authorisations, so Mercado Bitcoin, like its peers, is best described as operating under the transition regime.

We did not find verified reports of a recent security incident in the research behind this review, and we have no proof-of-reserves data we could check. Our security score therefore sits in the middle. Separately, the token has its own risks: Paxos can freeze addresses and upgrade the contract. Read is PAX Gold safe for a full list.

How to buy PAXG on Mercado Bitcoin

1. Go to the official site

   Type the address yourself or use the button at the top of this page. Fake exchange sites are a common scam.

2. Verify your account

   Complete the identity checks with your CPF and personal details.

3. Fund with Pix

   Send reais from your own bank account and wait for the balance to appear.

4. Check the price

   Compare the PAXG/BRL ask with the gold value in reais from the calculator.

5. Buy and store

   Use a limit order, then decide whether to hold on the exchange or move to a wallet. Our wallet guide lists compatible options.

On tax: after Provisional Measure 1.303/2025 lapsed, individuals selling crypto on domestic exchanges remain exempt up to R$35,000 of sales per month, with gains above that taxed at 15% to 22.5%. Crypto on foreign exchanges is taxed at 15% a year under Law 14.754/2023. This is not tax advice; check with the Receita Federal.

Pros and cons

Alternatives

If the spread on Mercado Bitcoin looks wide, compare the venues below. Foxbit is the closest like-for-like option. Global exchanges have far deeper PAXG/USDT books but no reais or Pix, and holdings there fall under the foreign-exchange tax rule. CEX.IO, in business since 2013, accepts users from Brazil and lists PAXG against USDT, USD, EUR and USDC, with cards rather than Pix.

Our PAX Gold in Brazil guide explains the local rules in more depth, and the exchanges overview lists every venue we track.