Brazil banks sell crypto tokens to retail clients without holding them on balance sheets

On Sept. 7, reports said Itaú Unibanco, Nubank, and Banco do Brasil sell crypto tokens to retail clients while not holding any cryptocurrency on their own balance sheets, and each listed more than a dozen digital assets ^{[1] [2]}.

Additional reporting said Brazil banks expanded their crypto offerings to as many as 28 assets, tied in the coverage to transactions across the country reaching R$505.5 billion (about $98.7 billion) in 2025 ^[3].

One source attributed the expansion to Brazil’s regulatory framework, saying the virtual-asset law passed in 2022 created a licensing regime and gave the Central Bank of Brazil (Banco Central do Brasil) oversight, which it said helped foster bank crypto adoption ^{[4] [2]}.