Itaú Unibanco, Brazil’s largest private bank, has told the central bank about its crypto trading and custody operations, making it the first bank to formalise them under the new digital-asset rules, CoinDesk reports. It notified the regulator on Tuesday, ahead of a deadline of Friday 30 October, citing Valor Econômico.
Resolution 520 took effect on 2 February and gave eligible institutions already active in crypto 270 days to notify. Submissions need an independent technical certification showing compliance. The central bank’s rules apply to banks and dedicated providers alike.
Banks the central bank already authorises can use notification. Dedicated virtual-asset providers must instead apply for operating authorisation, and those already operating face the same deadline.
Itaú offers 15 cryptoassets, including bitcoin, ether and the USDC stablecoin, and has run the service since December 2023. It has not disclosed customer numbers or trading volumes. Its mix of trading and custody matches the brokerage category under the rules.
Institutions that miss the deadline must stop crypto services within 30 days. In September the central bank set 6 November as the date from which banks and other authorised institutions are barred from doing crypto business with unauthorised providers.
The rules therefore set a hard sorting date: those who notify or win authorisation carry on, and those who do not have a month to wind down.
Mercado Bitcoin has said it is seeking authorisation to operate as a virtual-asset brokerage.
Whether the central bank accepts Itaú’s filing, how many others make Friday’s deadline, and what happens to unauthorised providers after 6 November are all still open. A first notification shows who moved early, and says little about who passes.
