Latin America’s Biggest Investment Bank Pactual Launches Crypto Trading Platform

BTG Pactual, Latin America’s largest investment bank, has launched a crypto trading platform called Mynt. Investment broker XP also launched its platform on the same day.

Latin America’s large investment bank, BTG Pactual, has launched its crypto trading platform Mynt — launching on the same day as competing bank XP. BTG Pactual and XP join the likes of Nubank, which is already quite popular in the region.

The Mynt platform is a separate application that does not yet offer deposits or withdrawals of cryptocurrencies. XP also does not offer deposits or withdrawals. André Portilho, Head of Digital Assets, said of the feature,

“We are working on this feature. In weeks or months, we plan to release. We think clients will want to bring the assets to BTG, given the cases we had of withdrawal restrictions.”

XP is one of the country’s biggest investment brokers, with over 3.6 million clients. Its platform allows customers to buy BTC and ETH for the moment.

Crypto launches increasing in Brazil

Brazil has seen multiple crypto-related launches in the past year or at least announcements to that end. Santander Brasil announced the launch of a crypto trading service for both institutional and retail customers.

Meta has also applied for trademark registration in Brazil for crypto-related services. There have not been many updates on this development since, but it highlights the interest that firms have in the country.

The Brazilian government has also been focusing on regulating the crypto market as the interest picks up. The Brazilian Senate passed a bill to regulate crypto transactions, with the Central Bank most likely responsible for regulating the crypto sector.

Popularity in Latin America grows

Crypto is extremely popular in the Latin American region, with over 50% of Latin Americans claiming that they have made transactions using crypto. They also say that they want more crypto and blockchain-related solutions.

This desire for crypto comes as countries in the region face extremely high inflation rates. More freelance workers have also begun to accept crypto as a form of payment.

Unsurprisingly, younger individuals are more likely to show interest in crypto. Millennials and younger are more tech-savvy and likely to see crypto as a new form of payment.