Itaú brings crypto trading under Brazil's new digital-asset rules
Itaú Unibanco has put its crypto offering on a formal footing with Brazil's central bank, covering 15 assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, per Crypto Briefing.
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what happened
Brazil's largest private bank, Itaú Unibanco, has placed its crypto trading and custody activity on an official footing with the country's central bank, according to Crypto Briefing. It is the first financial institution to do so under Brazil's new rules for digital assets. The notification was filed on October 27, 2026, just before the October 30 compliance deadline for providers already operating.
The service covers 15 digital assets, among them Bitcoin, Ethereum and the USDC stablecoin. Clients can start trading with as little as R$10, and the bank handles custody itself rather than outsourcing it. Itaú did not disclose how many users it has or how much they trade. The product itself launched in December 2023; what has changed is its legal status, which now sits inside the updated rulebook instead of a grey zone.
Tax authority data show Brazilians transacted R$505.5 billion in digital assets in 2025. Rivals such as Nubank are also expanding their crypto products.
why it matters
For markets, the regulatory side matters more than the volumes: a large domestic bank operating within formal rules can widen client access to crypto and makes the local regime look more predictable. With no user or trading figures disclosed, the scale of the effect is hard to gauge.
market impact
Crypto: a major Brazilian bank formalizes client access to BTC and ETH, a modest support for regional demand.
tags
instruments
sources
- Itaú formalizes crypto trading, offering 15 assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum — Crypto Briefing, 28 October 2026 at 10:55 UTC
prepared by the newsmetry newsroom with ai assistance from the sources listed below. not investment advice.
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