Brazil banks add crypto but hold none on balance sheets

Brazil’s largest banks have expanded their crypto offerings to as many as 28 assets after transactions across the country reached R$505.5 billion or about $98.7 billion in 2025.

Brazil banks expand crypto access without taking exposure

Folha de S.Paulo reported on Sept. 7 that Itaú, Bradesco, Santander, Banco do Brasil and Nubank have expanded their digital-asset services since 2025, giving customers access to cryptocurrencies through familiar banking apps.

Itaú, Brazil’s largest bank by assets under management, now offers 15 crypto assets through its investment platform. Its selection includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Circle’s dollar-backed stablecoin USDC.

Nubank has built a larger selection, listing 28 digital assets for more than 7 million users of its crypto platform. Banco do Brasil, the country’s most profitable state-controlled bank, began allowing customers to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum directly in January.

Since opening the service, Banco do Brasil has processed more than R$11 million ($2.1 million) in customer transactions, according to information the bank provided to Folha.

Customer access has not led the institutions to buy crypto for their own accounts. Central Bank of Brazil filings from March 2026, reviewed by the newspaper, showed that Brazilian banks reported no virtual assets on their balance sheets.

Under the service model used by the banks, customers can purchase or hold digital assets while the institution provides custody or processes the order. Proprietary exposure would arise only if a bank used its own funds to acquire crypto and accepted the related price, liquidity, and credit risks.

Carlos Akira Sato, co-founder of financial consultancy Syscapital, said demand from clients has driven banks to add the products even as they remain cautious about direct exposure.

“In a conservative sector, as the banking sector is, regulation makes institutions more secure to launch their products,” Sato told Folha.

Crypto transactions reached R$505.5 billion in 2025

Brazilian users and companies completed R$505.5 billion ($98.7 billion) in crypto transactions during 2025, according to data from the country’s federal tax authority, Receita Federal.

The total increased 22% from 2024 and 433% from the amount recorded in 2020. Companies accounted for nearly all reported activity, completing R$497 billion, about $97 billion in transactions, or 98.3% of the annual volume.

Individual investors generated the remaining share. The figures cover activity reported to the tax authority and do not show how much of the volume passed through bank-operated platforms.

Stablecoins make up a large part of Brazil’s digital-asset market because they give users access to tokens designed to track the U.S. dollar. In July, the International Monetary Fund called for closer stablecoin oversight as cross-border crypto flows became more connected with Brazil’s financial system.

The IMF’s Financial System Stability Assessment said stablecoin purchases in Brazil were two to three times more sensitive to global shocks than portfolio investment and foreign direct investment. The fund also identified gaps in customer protection, anti-money laundering controls, and oversight of cross-border activity.

Banco Safra, which mainly serves wealthy clients, entered the stablecoin market directly in September 2025 by issuing Safra Dólar. The bank keeps custody of the dollar-pegged token in-house and offers it to clients seeking dollar exposure without opening an overseas bank account.

Itaú had also considered issuing a token tied to Brazil’s real. In April 2025, the bank’s digital-assets head, Guto Antunes, said the project depended on the outcome of a Central Bank consultation, although stablecoins had remained on Itaú’s agenda. The bank was still assessing an in-house token while regulators worked on rules for the sector.

Brazil crypto rules set capital and licensing requirements

Brazil’s Legal Framework for Virtual Assets, enacted in 2022, assigned oversight of the sector to the Central Bank. The regulator then published Resolutions 519, 520 and 521 in November 2025 to set operating rules for virtual-asset service providers.

Companies that let customers trade, transfer or hold crypto must obtain authorization, maintain minimum capital and separate client assets from company funds. Around 120 crypto firms operating in Brazil must meet the licensing requirements by Oct. 30, 2026.

In July, the Central Bank approved additional capital and risk rules that will begin taking effect in January 2027. The framework places virtual-asset service providers within the regulatory structure used for brokers and distributors while adding governance, disclosure, and risk-management requirements.

Under the new prudential structure, crypto providers will enter Brazil’s S4 regulatory segment by mid-2028. Smaller institutions classified under the S5 segment will no longer be allowed to provide virtual-asset services.

Resolution 521 also brought some crypto transactions under Brazil’s foreign-exchange framework. Purchases, sales or exchanges involving tokens denominated in foreign currency, including dollar-pegged stablecoins, are treated as foreign-exchange operations and carry reporting requirements similar to certain international money transfers.

Licensed banks already operate under Central Bank supervision, giving them an established compliance structure as crypto-only companies prepare authorization requests. The rules do not require banks to purchase digital assets for their own portfolios before offering custody or execution services to clients.

U.S. banks can also provide crypto custody

American banking rules similarly separate customer-directed crypto services from assets purchased for a bank’s own account. In March 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency confirmed that national banks and federal savings associations may provide crypto custody, conduct certain stablecoin activities and participate in distributed-ledger networks.

OCC Interpretive Letter 1183 removed an earlier requirement for supervised banks to obtain written non-objection before starting permitted crypto activities. The agency said banks must still conduct such business safely, fairly, and in compliance with applicable law.

Two months later, OCC Interpretive Letter 1184 confirmed that covered banks may buy and sell crypto held in custody when acting on a customer’s instructions. Banks may also outsource custody and execution to third parties, provided they apply suitable third-party risk controls.