Brazilian Banks Expand Cryptocurrency Offerings Amid New Regulations
2 sources · Brazil
Who reported this
- UOL
- Folha de S.Paulo
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.
Every source for this story reports from Brazil.
Major Brazilian financial institutions, including Itaú, Bradesco, Santander, Banco do Brasil, and Nubank, have increased the variety of cryptocurrency products available to their customers. While offerings were previously limited primarily to bitcoin, banks now provide more than a dozen virtual assets, including ether and stablecoins like USDC. This expansion follows the 2022 Marco Legal dos Criptoativos, which granted the Central Bank of Brazil the authority to regulate virtual asset service providers. Since 2026, the Central Bank has implemented requirements regarding minimum capital, supervision, and asset segregation, with existing providers given until November to comply.
Data from the Receita Federal indicates a significant rise in cryptocurrency operations. In 2025, the total volume reached R$ 505.5 billion, representing a 22 percent increase over 2024 and a 433 percent increase since 2020. Legal entities accounted for the vast majority of this activity, moving approximately R$ 497 billion. Itaú specifically expanded its portfolio in 2025 to include 15 different crypto assets, which the bank holds in custody.
Financial experts warn that these assets carry high volatility compared to traditional stocks. Cristiano Corrêa, a finance professor at Ibmec, notes that price swings in crypto can be faster and larger than those of equities. Felipe Quiodine, a financial planner with Planejar, suggests a conservative diversification strategy, recommending that investors allocate between 1 percent and 3 percent of their total portfolio to these assets to limit potential losses.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- The report focuses on the growth of the market and the role of regulation in providing security for conservative banking institutions.
- Centre
- The report presents the expansion as a logical result of regulatory progress and provides balanced expert warnings on risk.
Sources
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.