Itaú Unibanco Notifies Brazil Central Bank of Crypto Trading and Custody Ahead of Oct. 30
By Crypto Wire
October 28, 2026
Itaú Unibanco, Brazil’s largest private bank, notified the Banco Central do Brasil on Tuesday, October 27, that it offers cryptocurrency trading and custody for clients — the two activities that together count as a crypto brokerage under the central bank’s new virtual-asset rules, according to Valor Econômico and a Wednesday CoinDesk wrap citing Valor. CoinDesk describes Itaú as the first Brazilian bank to formalize a crypto brokerage under the framework, three days ahead of the Friday, October 30, compliance deadline.
The filing is a notification, not a new license. Banks and other institutions the central bank already supervises use a communication procedure to put crypto activities on record. Dedicated virtual-asset service providers — the SPSAV category that covers specialized exchanges — must apply for operating authorization. Itaú’s combination of intermediation and custody maps to the brokerage (corretora) category under the rules, Valor and CoinDesk both say.
Nothing about the notice launches a brand-new product. Itaú has offered crypto buy/sell through its app since December 2023 and already custodies client holdings. CoinDesk, citing the bank’s site, puts the current menu at about 15 cryptoassets, including bitcoin, ether, and dollar-pegged USDC; Valor’s earlier Portuguese report said more than 14 assets. The bank has not disclosed client counts or trading volumes for the service, both outlets note.
Central bank Resolution 520 took effect February 2 and gave eligible financial institutions already active in crypto about 270 days to notify the regulator, CoinDesk reports. Submissions must include independent technical certification that the institution meets the rule’s requirements. Firms that miss the deadline must stop offering crypto services within 30 days. The same October 30 clock applies to authorization applications from dedicated crypto providers that were already operating when the rules took effect.
That bank-versus-exchange split is the collector-relevant contrast this week. While Itaú notifies, specialized venues are filing full SPSAV authorization requests before Friday. Binance said it submitted an SPSAV application on October 23 through BBrasil Sociedade Prestadora de Serviços de Ativos Virtuais Ltda., and Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin has said it is seeking authorization as a virtual-asset brokerage, per CoinDesk and Valor/Cointelegraph reporting. Filing an application is not approval — it keeps an existing operator inside transitional rules while the central bank reviews.
A second calendar date still binds the banks after Friday’s notify/apply cut. In September the central bank pushed to November 6 the date from which banks and other authorized institutions are barred from doing crypto business with unauthorized providers, CoinDesk notes. After that counterparty ban starts, supervised firms that keep dealing with unlicensed rails face a cleaner compliance cliff than the October 30 paperwork day alone.
For NFT and crypto desks watching Brazilian on-ramps, Itaú’s notice does not invent a new bid venue for OpenSea or Polygon packs. It does mark Brazil’s largest private bank putting regulated bank custody and brokerage language on file for BTC, ETH, and USDC rails that collectors already use to fund wallets. Prefer Valor’s dated Tuesday report and CoinDesk’s Wednesday attribution over social posts that reframe the notice as a brand-new crypto launch or as a granted SPSAV license.
Two facts remain unverified in public English wraps as of Wednesday morning: whether the central bank has publicly acknowledged the Unicad entry, and whether any other large Brazilian bank has already filed a similar notification. Treat “first bank” as Valor’s attributed claim via CoinDesk, not as a desk-audited Unicad dump.
What changes for bids: Friday’s October 30 deadline separates bank notifications like Itaú’s from exchange SPSAV applications, and the November 6 counterparty ban is the next date that can shrink which Brazilian rails collectors can still use to move cash into crypto and NFT markets.
Bottom line: Itaú Unibanco notified Brazil’s central bank on October 27 that its existing crypto trading and custody service sits in the brokerage category under Resolution 520, ahead of the October 30 transition deadline for banks and dedicated VASPs.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, investment, legal, or trading advice. The NFT market is highly volatile, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any decisions related to digital assets. The cover image for this article may have been created using artificial intelligence (AI).
