Bitcoin Magazine

Brazilian Banking Giant Itaú Formalizes Crypto Role as Brazil Closes Its Licensing Window

Itaú Unibanco, the largest private bank in Brazil, has formalized its role as a cryptocurrency service provider before the Central Bank of Brazil. The filing covers intermediation and custody of crypto assets, the same activities the regulator assigns to brokerage firms, according to local reports. The news arrives as the country’s crypto sector faces a compressed timeline to obtain licenses.

Itaú’s move places the bank inside a licensing framework that did not exist a year ago. Brazil’s central bank requires every company that holds, moves, or trades crypto for customers to register as a regulated provider. By filing, Itaú tells the market that it intends to be one of them.

For Brazilian users, the change matters most for custody. A provider that holds crypto for clients must keep those assets separate from the firm’s own money, meet minimum capital requirements, and follow the same governance and anti-money laundering standards that apply to securities brokers. 

Clients of an authorized bank gain a clearer legal footing than clients of an unregulated app or an offshore exchange. For the bank, the filing is a commitment. A regulated crypto operation carries compliance costs, audit obligations, and reporting duties that smaller competitors may struggle to meet. 

The move also signals that Brazil’s biggest lenders plan to keep crypto inside the domestic financial system rather than leave it to foreign platforms.

Itaú’s crypto story started before the new rules. The bank announced plans for crypto custody in 2022, when it was building a tokenization platform.

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