Itaú Unibanco has become the first bank in Brazil to formalize its crypto trading and custody operations under the country's new digital-asset rules. It notified the central bank ahead of an Oct. 30 deadline. The service offers 15 cryptoassets, including Bitcoin.
Itaú Unibanco, Brazil's largest private bank, formalized its crypto trading and custody operations under the country's new digital-asset rules, the first bank there to do so. The lender submitted its notification to the central bank on Tuesday, ahead of an Oct. 30 compliance deadline, according to local outlet Valor Econômico.
What the notification process allows
The regulatory framework lets banks the central bank already authorizes follow a notification process to offer crypto services. Dedicated virtual-asset service providers, by contrast, must apply for operating authorization. Itaú's mix of trading and custody corresponds to the brokerage category under the rules.
The central bank's Resolution 520 took effect on Feb. 2 and gave eligible institutions already active in crypto 270 days to notify the regulator. Those that miss the deadline must stop providing crypto services within 30 days.
What Itaú offers
Itaú offers 15 cryptoassets, including Bitcoin, ether and the dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC. The service started in December 2023, so the product is not new. What changed is its legal standing, according to Crypto Briefing.
The bank has not disclosed customer numbers or trading volumes. Crypto Briefing reports that customers can start trading with as little as R$10.
Other firms face the same deadline
The same deadline applies to authorization applications from dedicated crypto providers already operating when the rules took effect. Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin has said it is seeking authorization to operate as a virtual-asset brokerage.
In September, the central bank pushed the date to Nov. 6 from which banks and other authorized institutions are barred from doing crypto business with unauthorized providers.
Sources: CoinDesk, Crypto Briefing
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