Brazil’s largest bank opens crypto trading for all customers

Itaú Unibanco has opened crypto trading to all users of its Íon investment platform, allowing clients to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum directly through the app.

The largest financial institution in Latin America, Itaú Unibanco, has expanded access to crypto trading on its investment platform Íon, making Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) available to all users who download the platform’s app.

In an interview with Brazilian newspaper Valor Econômico, Guto Antunes, head of Itaú Digital Assets, revealed that the bank’s decision followed weekly surveys with an initial group of clients, which showed strong support for crypto-related products. Antunes emphasized that Itaú opted to develop the security for clients’ crypto wallets internally rather than outsourcing it.

“We have a participation and partnership with Liqi, but nothing regarding custody. The entire custody solution was designed and implemented within Itaú with our fiduciary duty in mind.”

Guto Antunes

While the bank didn’t disclose the number of Íon users, the report notes that the app has surpassed 3.5 million downloads across Android and iOS devices, which Antunes described as “significant for the crypto space and surprising.”

Despite the high acceptance, the offering to all users will be limited to BTC and ETH at first. Antunes admitted that clients are requesting additional tokens, which are under consideration pending a thorough regulatory risk assessment. Regarding stablecoins, Antunes said that Itaú is waiting for clear regulations from Brazil’s central bank without elaborating on the timeframe.

Itaú Unibanco first entered the crypto market in late 2023, launching services for select customers. The bank aims to compete with local entities like crypto exchange MB, BTG Pactual’s digital assets unit Mynt, and global players like Binance in the Brazilian market.