Brazilian lender Itau launches crypto trading

Brazilian bank Itau Unibanco on Monday launched a cryptocurrency trading service for clients of its investment platform, making the nation’s largest lender the latest local player to enter the market for the digital asset’s exchange.

Initially, Itau’s new service will allow trading of bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, as well as ether, but the lender aims to later add others, said digital asset head Guto Antunes in an interview. “It starts with bitcoin, but our overarching strategic plan is to expand to other crypto assets in the future,” he said, adding any expansion would depend on how crypto regulation in the country evolved.