Arbitrum

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<ul>
 <li>Itaú entered cryptocurrency trading in December 2023, making its latest regulatory notification a compliance milestone rather than a new launch.</li>
 <li>The bank reported approximately 300% growth in monthly crypto purchase volume during its first year, before expanding its offering to 15 assets.</li>
 <li>Brazil’s updated rules introduce stricter oversight of custody, governance and counterparties, potentially reshaping competition between banks and crypto exchanges.</li>
</ul>
Brazil’s largest private-sector bank, Itaú Unibanco, has formally notified the Central Bank of Brazil that it provides cryptocurrency trading and custody services, nearly three years after entering the digital-asset market.
The October 27 notification comes as Brazil implements a dedicated regulatory framework for virtual-asset businesses. Unlike a new exchange seeking permission to operate, Itaú already has an established cryptocurrency product distributed through its banking application.
Its expansion since December 2023 offers a clearer measure of the bank’s progress than the latest regulatory filing alone.
<h2 id="from-two-cryptocurrencies-to-a-nationwide-banking-product">From Two Cryptocurrencies to a Nationwide Banking Product</h2>
<a href="https://www.itau.com.br/relacoes-com-investidores/noticias/itau-unibanco-inicia-negociacao-de-criptomoedas-via-ion/?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Itaú launched cryptocurrency trading</a> on December 4, 2023, initially allowing selected customers of its íon investment platform to purchase Bitcoin and Ether.
The minimum investment was R$10, with the bank providing custody rather than requiring customers to manage their own private keys.
In June 2024, Itaú expanded access to all active íon users. <a href="https://www.itau.com.br/relacoes-com-investidores/noticias/itau-unibanco-amplia-acesso-de-clientes-ion-itau-aos-ativos-bitcoin-e-ethereum/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Its official announcement reported</a> that more than 90% of surveyed customers rated the experience positively, although the bank did not disclose the survey’s sample size.
A more significant distribution milestone followed in December 2024, when Itaú integrated cryptocurrency trading into its main Superapp.
At the time, the bank disclosed that monthly cryptocurrency purchase volume had increased by approximately 300% since launch. The number of new cryptocurrency customers had also risen by more than 30% in the preceding month.
Those figures demonstrated early growth but did not establish the business’s absolute scale. Itaú withheld underlying transaction values and customer totals, preventing an independent calculation of its market share.
<h2 id="ita-expands-to-15-assets-but-trading-scale-remains-undisclosed">Itaú Expands to 15 Assets, but Trading Scale Remains Undisclosed</h2>
By October 2026, Itaú’s cryptocurrency selection had expanded from two assets to 15, <a href="https://feito.itau.com.br/criptoativos-comecar-a-investir/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according to its October 26 product update</a>.
The offering includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, <a href="https://ethnews.com/guides/what-is-usd-coin-usdc-understanding-usdcs-role-in-regulated-stablecoin-infrastructure/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">USDC</a>, Chainlink, Aave, Avalanche, Litecoin, Polygon, Bitcoin Cash, Uniswap, Optimism, Arbitrum and Pax Gold.
That represents a 7.5-fold increase in supported assets since the original launch.
The expansion also changes the product’s risk profile. Customers can now access decentralized-finance tokens, scaling-network assets, a dollar-linked stablecoin and a gold-backed token alongside established cryptocurrencies.
These instruments introduce different liquidity, market, smart-contract and issuer-related risks. Their availability through a regulated bank does not eliminate the underlying risks of the assets themselves.
However, product breadth should not be confused with market share.
Itaú has not disclosed current cryptocurrency trading volumes, assets under custody or the number of active digital-asset investors. Its historical growth figures therefore cannot establish how much of Brazil’s cryptocurrency market the bank controls today.
Similarly, the widely cited $800 billion figure associated with Itaú’s broader financial scale should not be interpreted as its cryptocurrency holdings or trading activity.
<h2 id="what-changes-under-brazil-s-new-crypto-rules">What Changes Under Brazil’s New Crypto Rules?</h2>
On October 27, Itaú formally notified the Central Bank of Brazil that it provides virtual-asset intermediation and custody services.
The notification brings an existing business into Brazil’s dedicated regulatory framework. It does not represent a fresh cryptocurrency trading launch.
<a href="https://www.bcb.gov.br/estabilidadefinanceira/exibenormativo?numero=520&amp;tipo=resolu%C3%A7%C3%A3o+bcb" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Under Central Bank Resolution 520</a>, eligible financial institutions already authorized by the central bank can provide specified virtual-asset services through a notification procedure.
Standalone virtual-asset service providers, or VASPs, face a separate authorization process. These companies provide services such as cryptocurrency trading, transfers and custody without necessarily holding a conventional banking license.
For institutions such as Itaú, the framework introduces requirements covering operational controls, governance, custody arrangements and independent technical certification.
Existing providers face an October 30 transition deadline.
A second regulatory milestone follows on November 6.
Under amendments introduced by Resolution 589, Brazilian financial institutions face restrictions on facilitating virtual-asset transactions involving providers that lack the required authorization, subject to regulatory exceptions.
The deadline was previously October 30 but was subsequently moved to November 6.
These restrictions could influence which counterparties banks use for cryptocurrency liquidity, settlement and related services. They do not establish that Itaú will change its customer fees or supported assets.
<h2 id="the-economics-behind-ita-s-crypto-expansion">The Economics Behind Itaú’s Crypto Expansion</h2>
Itaú’s historical pricing provides another perspective on its strategy.
When cryptocurrency trading reached the Superapp in December 2024, the bank disclosed a 2.5% purchase fee, with no monthly charges or additional selling fee under the terms announced at the time.
At that rate, a R$1,000 cryptocurrency purchase would incur R$25 in purchase fees, excluding any execution-price differences.
This illustrates the economics of the original retail offering rather than necessarily reflecting Itaú’s current pricing, which requires separate confirmation.
For a traditional bank, cryptocurrency trading offers an additional transaction-revenue stream while keeping investment activity within its existing customer platform.
Integrated custody also removes the need for customers to manage private keys, although investors become dependent on the institution’s safeguarding arrangements.
The commercial question is whether that convenience justifies the cost compared with specialized cryptocurrency exchanges.
Itaú has already demonstrated its ability to expand distribution, increase its supported assets and attract early trading activity. What remains unproven is the scale and profitability of the business today.
Updated transaction volumes, custody balances and customer participation would provide a more meaningful assessment of its competitive position.
<a href="https://ethnews.com/brazil-crypto-transfers-bank-wires/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Brazil’s new</a> regulatory framework adds another test: whether established banks can turn their existing compliance infrastructure into a durable advantage in cryptocurrency services.
The post <a href="https://ethnews.com/itaus-crypto-business-expands-as-brazil-tightens-oversight/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Itaú’s Crypto Business Expands as Brazil Tightens Oversight</a> appeared first on <a href="https://ethnews.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETHNews</a>.

Itaú’s Crypto Business Expands as Brazil Tightens Oversight

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