Coinspeaker Brazil’s Banking Giant Itaú Opens Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading to 50M+ Customers
Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A (Brazil: ITUB3) announced today its entry into the cryptocurrency market, responding to growing investor demand for digital asset diversification. The banking giant will enable cryptocurrency trading services through its Ion app investment platform, allowing registered customers to buy and sell digital assets directly through their existing accounts.
To begin with, Itaú Unibanco customers will have access to two crypto assets including Bitcoin BTC $95 421 24h volatility: 0.7% Market cap: $1.89 T Vol. 24h: $89.14 B and Ethereum ETH $3 581 24h volatility: 1.1% Market cap: $430.79 B Vol. 24h: $38.49 B . The veteran Brazilian banking giant, founded in 1924 and managed to accumulate over $526 billion in total assets, will hold the customers’ digital assets through its in-house custody services.
“The availability of digital assets in the Itaú ion reinforces our strategic agenda, as well as brings sophistication and democratization within the investment journey we offer to our customers. With this novelty, we have expanded our product shelf and provided another asset class for diversification, which must be done according to the profile of each one,” Cláudio Sanches, director of Products and Solutions for investors at Itaú Unibanco, noted.
The initial rollout phase of the crypto trading services involved customers registered on the ion app with a minimum investment value set at R$10. Itaú Unibanco has set a transaction fee of about 2.5 percent, which will be charged at the time of purchase.
Meanwhile, Itaú Unibanco also launched the Superapp, which will be accessible to novice cryptocurrency traders. The company’s ion app will be majorly tailored for cryptocurrency traders with basic knowledge about the web3 industry.
Itaú Unibanco’s Cryptocurrency Market Outlook
The Brazilian banking giant has been morphing alongside the financial market through the adoption of digital assets and blockchain technology. Since the launch of its crypto trading platform in 2023, the bank has registered a volume monthly spike of about 300 percent.
Additionally, Itaú Unibanco has seen its new crypto customers increase by over 30 percent in the last month, heavily bolstered by the ongoing bullish outlook.
“It is our attentive attention, every day, to the needs and demands of our customers, that allows us to be very assertive in providing new solutions. We tested the trading of crypto assets on a smaller scale, we had significant adoption from our customers and now we are ready to offer this modality to all customers, with all the simplicity of the superapp and the security of Itaú,” João Araújo, Director of Business, Platforms and Digital Experiences at Itaú Unibanco, noted.
However, the rate of Itaú’s cryptocurrency adoption will heavily depend on the country’s regulations. Furthermore, the bank is keen on the heightened risks of cryptocurrency adoption, including the possibility of system attacks to drain user funds as observed in the past.
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Brazil’s Banking Giant Itaú Opens Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading to 50M+ Customers
