Itaú Unibanco, Brazil’s largest financial institution by belongings, is exploring whether or not to situation its personal stablecoin as regulatory discussions evolve and U.S. monetary establishments slowly transfer into the sector.
The choice may hinge on how American establishments fare with their stablecoin rollouts, mentioned Guto Antunes, head of digital belongings at Itaú. At an business occasion in São Paulo, Antunes cited the rising momentum behind blockchain-based settlement methods.
“Itaú has all the time had stablecoins on its radar. We can not ignore the energy that blockchain has to settle transactions atomically,” native media quoted him saying. Stablecoins, for now, stay a “matter on the agenda.”
The renewed curiosity in stablecoins comes on the heels of a political shift within the U.S., the place lawmakers rejected a central financial institution digital foreign money (CBDC) in favor of encouraging non-public stablecoin options to protect the greenback’s dominance.
In Brazil, regulators are conducting a public session—Consulta Pública No. 111—centered on how stablecoins would possibly match into the present monetary system. Antunes mentioned the financial institution is ready to see what guidelines the central financial institution units earlier than advancing any inside venture.
Antunes additionally raised issues a couple of proposed ban on self-custody in Brazil’s draft stablecoin guidelines. Brazil, it’s price noting, has barred main pension funds from investing in cryptocurrencies.