Biggest Investment Firm in Brazil to Launch Cryptocurrency Exchange

The biggest investment firm in Brazil is preparing to launch a cryptocurrency exchange, according to CCN which cites local news outlet Portal do Bitcoin.

Rio de Janeiro-based XP Investimentos is Brazil’s has 600 offices across Brazil and employs more than 2,350 investment advisors. It manages more than $35 billion dollars for almost 600,000 customers.

The report says that the company has been researching the subject since last year, and registered the brand name ‘XP Bitcoin’ in October 2017. An anonymous source told Portal do Bitcoin that most likely the service will focus on over-the-counter trading.

Recently, major Brazilian cryptocurrency exchanges were surprised to discover that a new cryptocurrency association had been created in rivalry with their already-existing Associação Brasileira de Criptoeconomia (ABCripto). The new organisation, the Associação Brasileira de Criptomoedas e Blockchain, was set up by a fintech firm called the Atlas Project.

Natalia Garcia, legal director of exchange Foxbit and vice president of ABCripto, told Portal do Bitcoin: “Until yesterday we did not know it existed.”

“I’m concerned an association does not have any relevant exchanges. Everybody on the market knew we were building an association and getting ready to talk to the other players in the market,” she added.

Mixed messages from Chile

In other cryptocurrency news from South America, the continent’s first blockchain summit will be held in Santiago, Chile on the 8th of May. According to the official website, the Blockchain Summit Latam will feature more than 20 national and international exhibitors and expects at least 300 attendees.

Scheduled to speak are a number of influential people, including Ripple’s VP of Business Operations, NEO’s Senior Manager of Research and Development, the senior technology advisor for the US State Department, and several executives from Chilean banks and companies, including the CIO of Santiago Exchange.

According to the website, Santiago was chosen to host the event because in 2017 “Chile was part of the boom in the adoption of cryptocurrencies, where more than US$50 million were traded in the more than 3 exchanges that operate nationwide.”

This is interesting because, as we recently reported, Chilean banks have cut services to the cryptocurrency sector en masse, leaving blockchain companies to wonder how they will continue operations. Several cryptocurrency exchanges have appealed the decision in court.