The Brazilian arm of Spain’s largest commercial bank, Banco Santander will reportedly begin bitcoin and ether trading services for its clients. In an interview with a local news publication, Folha de S. Paulo, Santander Brazil CEO, Mario Leão partially confirmed the claims, noting that the institution realizes that the crypto industry is here to stay given the heightened demand.
Mario Leão said that the bank recognizes that “it [crypto] 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”. Additionally, local news reported that Santander Brazil CEO ascertained that the financial institution will share more information on the matter during the publication of its next quarterly results.
Here’s Why Brazilian Banks Choose Crypto
Brazilian banks are swiftly gravitating toward the crypto sphere with eminent players such as – Itau Unibanco Holding SA and Nubank commencing crypto trading services. Earlier this month, Watcher Guru reported that Latin America’s largest private lender, Itau Unibanco Holding SA was planning to facilitate buying and selling of cryptocurrencies to its retail clients in the near future, alongside the announcement of a new token trading platform. However, the financial giant has not provided a specific timeline for the same.
Brazil’s digital banking platform giant, Nubank also announced an exclusive partnership with blockchain infrastructure platform Paxos. In light of the partnership, the bank confirmed to offer cryptocurrency buying, holding, and selling capabilities.
Following the news of banks moving into crypto, a recent report from the global hiring platform Deel ascertained that despite the ongoing crypto crash, digital assets represented 5% of all global payments withdrawn from the platform every month. Furthermore, the report emphasized that crypto payments are most prominent amongst residents in nations with currency volatility, which also results in the issue of hyperinflation. These included countries in Latin America (LATAM) and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).
Subsequently, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter, Luana Pinheiro recently became the first-ever Brazilian sportswoman to sign an agreement to receive the entirety of her salaried income in the dominant cryptocurrency, bitcoin. She highlighted bitcoin’s inflationary hedge use-case, further emphasizing her Latin-American roots to explain her decision as a safeguard against currency devaluation.
She said, “don’t forget I’m from Brazil, so I know a thing or two about inflation and its effects. I was born around 1994, around the time the Brazilian currency Real was introduced and pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar at the time. It is now 5 BRL for 1 USD. Bitcoin is for that, to protect against inflation”.