Brazil’s largest bank has opened up cryptocurrency trading to all users of its investment platform, allowing them to sell Bitcoin and Ethereum directly.

Guto Antunes, the chief executive of Itau Unibanco, said the decision came after a series of surveys and discussions with clients that showed a strong support for cryptocurrency financial products. A key point, Antunes said, is that Itau Unibanco developed the transaction infrastructure and virtual crypto wallets itself, rather than outsource it.

Itau’s latest report notes that its trading app has more than 3.5 million downloads. Antunues noted that there is significant appetite for crypto trading among its customer base but a regulatory risk assessment from Brazilian officials must clear the way first, both for cryptocurrency as well as stablecoins.

Itau Unibanco is a new but aggressive player in the crypto market, getting involved in late 2023 with concierge services to select customers. The launch of its Ion trading app signals a broader intent to compete in global cryptocurrency exchanges such as MB, BTG, Mynt, and Binance.

Featured image via Ideogram

Bitcoin is down slightly, many altcoins have seen major losses and the largest cryptocurrency continues to face rejections at the $70k level. While Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced losses of 5-7%, many altcoins bled double digits. BNB, Solana, and Dogecoin saw losses ranging from 12-15%. Shiba Inu, Avalanche, Polkadot, Chainlink and NEAR Protocol also suffered double digit losses. 

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report is coming out, which historically influences crypto markets. Anticipation of this report may be causing some market hesitation. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting is also taking place, with a summary of economic projections being discussed. 

Although no rate changes will be announced, this meeting still impacts market sentiment. Officials are expected to keep interest rates steady regardless. However, the new inflation figures might influence their predictions on the number of rate cuts for the year, as policymakers can revise their forecasts based on this data.

Despite the downturn, institutions and companies are still interested in crypto, influenced by the success of Bitcoin spot ETFs. This interest extends to all major cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and other blue chips.

What to expect from Bitcoin price?

When discussing Bitcoin’s price, analyst Crypto Rus noted that before Bitcoin surged from $1,000 to $20,000 in 2017, there was a period of choppiness and consolidation, similar to the current 15-week period. He suggested that once a breakout occurs, significant upward movement could follow, potentially reaching $300,000 to $400,000.

He said that despite ETH recently dropping from $3,900 to $3,500, it is forming a bull flag. With Ethereum ETFs on the horizon, significant investment is expected, which could drive ETH prices higher. The influx of liquidity will benefit not just ETH but the entire market.