Large Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual has announced the launch of a new platform enabling customers to make direct investments in Bitcoin, making it the first large financial institution in Brazil to offer direct Bitcoin exposure.
The bank’s Mynt platform allows users to purchase Bitcoin. BTG Pactual CEO, Roberto Sallouti, described Mynt's creation as being in response to a high demand from customers who wanted to trade in Bitcoin and crypto, Exame reported.
Sallouti added that Mynt will also host education content designed to teach new users about Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, stating: “As a new asset class, we will also have content to educate and inform our customers about these assets and the technology.”
Mynt’s launch makes BTG Pactual the first major Brazilian financial institution to allow its customers to “participate directly” in the Bitcoin and crypto asset markets, According to Exame, a local news outlet.
Andre Porthilo, BTG Pactual’s head of digital assets, stated that the bank is regulated by both the Brazilian Securities Commission and local central banks and this will lend credibility to the country’s growing Bitcoin and crypto sector.
It is unknown whether BTG Pactual will support Bitcoin withdrawals or whether their Bitcoin product is a strike-price matching derivative. The bank’s Mynt application is, however, likely to introduce and provide easy access to Bitcoin for traditional conservative investors and bank users.
The cause for concern for many Bitcoiners lies in the fact that Mynt is simultaneously pushing tokenized securities, and failing to differentiate between Bitcoin and crypto on their platform. Notably, in 2019 BTG Pactual issued its own real estate-back security token “ReitBZ”, which has a minimum investment threshold of $500.
The bank has a history of precedent setting in Brazil. In April of 2021, BTG Pactual also became the first Brazilian investment bank to launch a Bitcoin and crypto fund.