Today's Brazil Itau began offering cryptocurrency trading services to select clients through its ion investment platform. It has been a year since the bank started digital asset custody services. Initially it only offers Bitcoin and Ether with plans to expand the range.
According Economic value, Itaú's head of digital assets, Guto Antunes, said the launch is to select clients, but did not provide the criteria. “This gradualness depends on regulatory clarity. We do not go into details about the selection processes because it is a strategic issue,” he said. Brazil is in the process of finalizing detailed rules. Antunes confirmed the launch on LinkedIn.
While early investors can buy and sell, they cannot transfer cryptocurrency in or out of the wallet. The bank will provide the custody service.
Other Brazilian financial institutions such as Nubank and BTG Pactual We also offer crypto services. In fact, BTG Pactual has its own stablecoin. Meanwhile, another Brazilian institution, XP, recently suspended its cryptocurrency trading platform.
Meanwhile, Itaú Unibanco is one of the 14 teams participating in the DREX pilots for a digital real central bank digital currency (CBDC). Last year, the bank issued its first tokenized digital asset for trade finance receivables.
