Brazilian banks expand crypto offerings as regulation takes hold

Three of Brazil’s largest financial institutions are now functioning as crypto brokerages for millions of retail customers. Itaú, Nubank, and Banco do Brasil have each built out token menus that rival some standalone exchanges, all while maintaining a strict policy of never holding a single satoshi on their own books.

The expansion comes as the Brazilian Central Bank’s new regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers took effect in February 2026, creating the kind of institutional guardrails that tend to make compliance departments sleep better at night.

What the banks are actually doing

Itaú, the country’s largest private bank, kicked off 2025 offering 15 different tokens to retail clients, including Bitcoin and ether. Banco do Brasil, the state-controlled giant, followed by launching direct investment access to Bitcoin and ether in January 2026. Both institutions are treating crypto as just another asset class available through their existing brokerage platforms.

Then there’s Nubank, which has been the most aggressive of the three. The digital bank expanded its crypto platform to 28 assets, adding four new tokens in May 2026 alone. More than 7 million users are now trading crypto through its app.

The critical detail, though, is how these banks have structured their exposure. None of them hold crypto on their balance sheets. They act purely as custodians and intermediaries, connecting clients to digital assets without taking on the volatility risk themselves.

Each bank classifies its crypto services as high-risk investments, complete with mandatory risk disclosures before clients can trade.

The regulatory framework behind the push

The Brazilian Central Bank, known as the BCB, passed resolutions at the end of 2025 establishing a formal regulatory framework for virtual asset service providers. Those rules went live in February 2026.

The framework covers authorization requirements, capital adequacy standards, mandatory asset segregation, and proof of reserves. In plain terms, companies that want to offer crypto services in Brazil now need to prove they have enough capital to operate, keep client funds separate from their own, and demonstrate they actually hold the assets they claim to.

For banks already accustomed to heavy regulation in traditional finance, these requirements are familiar territory. That’s precisely why the framework has made it easier for incumbents like Itaú and Banco do Brasil to enter the space. They already have the compliance infrastructure.

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