Itaú Unibanco has now made crypto trading accessible to all users of its Íon investment platform. Clients can now buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum directly through the app.

Being the largest financial institution in Latin America, Itaú Unibanco has expanded crypto trading on its Íon platform, offering Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to all users who download the app. This move was driven by strong interest from an initial group of clients, as revealed by Guto Antunes, head of Itaú Digital Assets, in an interview with a Brazilian newspaper.

Antunes noted that the bank decided to develop the security for clients’ crypto wallets internally. He stated, “We have a participation and partnership with Liqi, but nothing regarding custody. The entire custody solution was designed and implemented within Itaú with our fiduciary duty in mind.”

“We have a participation and partnership with Liqi, but nothing regarding custody. The entire custody solution was designed and implemented within Itaú with our fiduciary duty in mind.”

Although the bank did not disclose the exact number of Íon users, it was mentioned that the app has surpassed 3.5 million downloads across Android and iOS devices. Antunes described this as “significant for the crypto space and surprising.”

Currently, the offering is limited to BTC and ETH, but there is a growing demand for additional tokens. These are under consideration, pending thorough regulatory risk assessments. Regarding stablecoins, Antunes mentioned that Itaú is waiting for clear regulations from Brazil’s central bank.

Itaú Unibanco entered the crypto market in late 2023, initially launching services for select customers. The bank aims to compete with local entities like crypto exchange MB and BTG Pactual’s digital assets unit Mynt, as well as global players in the Brazilian market.

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