Itaú, Nubank, and Banco do Brasil now sell dozens of cryptoassets to retail clients as Brazil's crypto market hit a record $98.7 billion in 2025. New Central Bank licensing rules, with an October 30 compliance deadline, pushed the banks to expand their menus while keeping crypto off their own balance sheets.
Itaú now sells clients 15 different cryptoassets through its investment app, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC. Nubank lists 28 tokens on its platform. Banco do Brasil started letting customers buy Bitcoin and Ethereum directly in January, and the bank says its service has already moved more than R$11 million ($2.1 million) in transactions.
Brazil's crypto volume hits a record
Brazilians moved R$505.5 billion ($98.7 billion) through crypto in 2025, according to Receita Federal data. That is more than five times the R$94.9 billion recorded in 2020. Companies did most of the moving: corporate transactions totaled R$497 billion ($97 billion) last year, 98.3% of the volume the tax authority tracked, with individual investors accounting for the rest.
Regulation clears the runway
The expansion tracks a regulatory shift. Brazil passed its Legal Framework for Virtual Assets in 2022, handing the Central Bank authority over the sector, and three resolutions the bank published in November 2025 gave that authority teeth. Any firm that lets customers trade, hold, or send crypto now needs a license, a minimum capital cushion, and segregated client accounts, with an October 30 deadline to comply.
That regulatory clarity is what convinced banks to move, Carlos Akira Sato, co-founder of consultancy Syscapital, told Folha de S.Paulo clearer rules left banks "more secure to launch their products."
Banks keep crypto off their books
None of that activity touches the banks' own balance sheets. Central Bank filings dated March 2026 and reviewed by Folha show zero holdings of virtual assets on Brazilian banks' books, even though institutions can custody and process crypto for clients. Banco Safra took the boldest approach, issuing its own dollar-pegged stablecoin, Safra Dólar, in September 2025, and keeping full custody in-house.
Nubank's push runs deeper still: the fintech added four new tokens in May 2026 alone, according to Crypto Briefing. More than 7 million users now trade crypto through its app, the outlet reported. With roughly 120 crypto firms racing to meet the October 30 deadline, the banks that already cleared the compliance bar have room left to keep expanding.
Sources: Decrypt, Crypto Briefing
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