Itaú Unibanco has notified Brazil’s central bank that it provides cryptocurrency trading and custody, becoming the first bank to formalize those activities under the country’s new virtual-asset regime. The bank already offered the service, but the notification places it inside the new supervisory framework.
Itaú offers 15 assets, including Bitcoin, Ether and USDC. The service has operated since December 2023. The bank has not disclosed customer numbers, custody balances or trading volume, so formalization should not be treated as a measure of adoption.
Banks already authorized by Banco Central do Brasil can use a notification process, while dedicated virtual-asset service providers must apply for authorization. Existing providers face an October deadline and must submit independent technical certification. Firms that miss the deadline must stop providing covered services within 30 days.
The central bank’s September update also strengthens anti-money-laundering reporting. Transfers to or from self-custodied wallets equal to at least $10,000 must be reported to Brazil’s financial-intelligence unit under rules effective in October. bcb.gov.br
TOKEN RECON ASSESSMENT
The material signal is migration from voluntary bank product to supervised crypto brokerage. Itaú’s existing banking authorization gives it a faster route than crypto-native firms, potentially creating a structural advantage in custody and distribution. The next test is how many providers receive authorization, which firms exit after the deadline and whether regulated bank channels gain measurable volume.
