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Itau Unibanco, one of the largest Brazilian banks, has announced that it will offer custody services for cryptocurrency in 2023. Itau Digital Assets, the cryptocurrency unit of the company, will be responsible for this offering, which will be available first to the bank’s customers, and then to third parties as a service.
Itau Unibanco, one of the largest private banks in Brazil and Latam, has decided to enter crypto-related services. The company announced on November 17, 2022 that it plans to launch cryptocurrency custody services in 2023. Itau Digital Assets, the division of the company that deals with all things crypto, will be in charge of the technology behind this solution.
For Itau Unibanco, custody services are an important part of the security framework that third-party companies can offer users. About this, Itau Unibanco’s product manager Eric Alftafim told O Globo:
Custody is a fundamental element in this context because, especially in a new market like crypto-assets, it provides security to investors. We will look after our customers’ assets in a reliable environment.
The custody service for cryptocurrency will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will allow the bank’s customers to contract these services. The second phase will extend these services to third parties, including other companies and institutions. Itau Unibanco expects to launch its custody solution in Q2 2023. However, the company did not disclose the assets backed by the solution.
While Itau Unibanco is one of the first banks to announce this type of service, it is not the first in Brazil. BTG Pactual, another institution in Brazil, debuted its cryptocurrency custody services as part of the launch of its own crypto exchange, called mint, in August.
This is not the first time Itau Unibanco has flirted with crypto. The company announced that it may introduce cryptocurrency trading to its customers on July 14. Likewise, the bank also operates a tokenization unit, which allows customers to issue tokens that represent real-world values in the bank’s own exchange.
Itau Unibanco is also part of this year’s LIFT Lab, where a number of institutions present their projects with the idea of innovating today’s financial system. The company was chosen to present a Brazilian real pegged stablecoin solution, which can allow rapid exchange between tokens representing other fiat currencies in a decentralized financial environment.
What do you think of Itau Unibanco’s new cryptocurrency custody service? Tell us in the comments section below.
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