This will help reinforce the trend of large traditional financial institutions adopting cryptocurrency solutions.

Multinational banking company Santander is ready to offer crypto trading services to selected clients in Brazil. Brazil is one of the most attractive markets for these new experiments.

The South American country is one of the largest economies in the world. In addition, recent inflationary crises have motivated a large part of the investment sector to approach cryptocurrencies. Since then, these assets have spread among the preferences of institutional and retail portfolios.

As a result, major lenders such as Nubank, Itaú Unibanco and now Santander are approaching this sector, which is advancing at an accelerated pace. It should be noted that the European bank’s projects to offer cryptocurrency services in Brazil are not new, dating back to 2022. However, around that time the project was withdrawn and is now being modified, according to the lender.

In any case, Santander’s cryptocurrency trading options will be extended to select clients of its Toro financial unit. Trading will begin later this week, and the only assets on the offering list so far are BTC and ETH.

Crypto Trading Expands in Brazil

Brazil is one of the epicenters of crypto trading in the entire Western Hemisphere. It is therefore not surprising that major banks have concrete plans to tap into the local investment sector interested in these assets.

Santander representatives state that they are open to offering other tokenized currencies or services. Therefore, it can be said that this initiative is a test of sorts. “This is a first step we are taking,” commented Joao Resende, co-founder and CEO of Toro. He adds that they are not ruling out expanding the service to the platform’s one million customers in the future.

Regarding the arrival of crypto operations at this time, Resende indicated that this had been planned for some time, but they had to face certain controls, adapt commercial and custodial infrastructures and deal with other partners within the industry to ensure due compliance with laws and regulations. He pointed out that the idea is “to offer a product with all the necessary education and security approach.

The announcement by Santander and Toro comes shortly after Nubank announced a partnership with Lightspark that will enable the integration of the Lightning Network into products and services that support bitcoin transactions for the bank’s users.

There are many reasons for financial companies to enter the cryptocurrency world in Brazil. One can cite factors of great attractiveness, such as the high adoption rate, as well as the open attitude of the authorities towards the sector. The country is also working on clearer regulations to facilitate foreign investment in the sector.

On the derivatives front, BlackRock recently announced that its spot bitcoin ETF, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), will begin trading on the Brazilian exchange. This is a product specifically designed for this market in partnership with B3, one of the country’s main exchange operators.

As mentioned above, the boom in interest in cryptocurrencies came at a time of economic stress in Brazil. However, once the outlook brightened, the enthusiasm for these digital assets did not fade, but continued to grow. The growing understanding of this technology among investors of all sizes makes it an attractive option for financial firms.

By Leonardo Perez

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