Itaú Unibanco, one of Latin America’s largest private banks, has expanded its Bitcoin and Ether trading services to all customers.
Crypto trading for everyone
Itaú Unibanco, based in Brazil and serving over 60 million customers, began offering cryptocurrency trading through its investment platform ‘Ion’ in December 2023.
Initially, this service was available only to selected clients, but the bank has now made it accessible to all users who download the platform’s app.
Guto Antunes, head of Itaú Digital Assets, confirmed this expansion in a recent interview, and told the press that weekly surveys showed that customers trusted Itaú’s in-house custody solution for their crypto assets.
Wallet safety and compliance
The bank developed its own tool to ensure the safety of customers’ crypto wallets, without relying on third-party services.
They received development support from tokenizer Liqi but maintained full control over the custody solution, and Antunes highlighted Itaú’s commitment to secure and reliable crypto services.
“We have a stake and a partnership with Liqi, but nothing in terms of custody.”
To comply with asset segregation requirements set by Brazil’s Central Bank, Itaú created a separate digital wallet for each client, while the country’s central bank is working on a segmented approach to crypto regulation, with proposals expected by the end of the year.
Antunes noted that the bank’s ‘Ion’ app had over 3.5 million downloads, a pretty big number for the crypto market, even during the initial phased rollout.
Conquering markets
Itaú currently supports Bitcoin and Ether trading but plans to include other cryptocurrencies based on customer demand and regulatory risk assessments, and the bank is also awaiting clear rules on stablecoin operations in Brazil from the central bank.
Antunes emphasized Itaú’s alignment with the central bank in developing proper regulations to ensure sustainable growth.
He also mentioned that training managers to advise clients on crypto assets was a challenge, and to address this, Itaú created an AI chatbot to assist experts and managers in understanding customer questions.
By expanding its crypto trading services and ensuring regulatory compliance, Itaú Unibanco is positioning itself as a major player in the digital asset market not just in Brazil, but in the wider Latam region too.
