Santander Brazil to launch cryptocurrency trading platform

Banco Santander is set to launch a host of crypto-related services within Brazil soon, with more details of the development likely to go public when the company’s next earnings go live in October. On the matter, Leao pointed out:

“We recognize that it is a market that is here to stay, and it is not necessarily a reaction to competitors positioning themselves, it is simply a vision that our client has demand for this type of asset, so we have to find the most correct and most educational way to do it,”

Earlier in March, the company announced the launch of token-backed loans for Argentinian farmers.  The deal was facilitated in conjunction with the S.American agri-commodities tokenization platform Agrotoken.

The bank also launched an initiative designed to help foster the growth of startups associated with the global blockchain ecosystem called “Santander X Global Challenge  — Blockchain and Beyond.”

Brazil becoming hotbed for crypto finance

In recent months, a growing number of non-crypto financial companies have revealed their plans to launch crypto ventures in Brazil.

Fintech firm PicPay recently announced that it will be launching a crypto exchange in the country alongside a stablecoin pegged to the Brazilian real by the end of 2022.

Late last year, Mercado Libre, Latin America’s largest e-commerce firm by total valuation, afforded its Brazilian users the option to start buying, selling, and holding digital assets using its platform.

Earlier this week, Brazil’s largest digital bank, Nubank, announced that it had accrued a whopping one million users for its crypto trading platform within just 30 days of its launch.