As per a Bloomberg report, Grupo XP, the parent company of XP Investimentos SA, is launching an exchange for Bitcoin and Ethereum trading in the ‘coming months.’

Guilherme Dias Fernandes Benchimol, CEO, Groupo XP noted in an event in Sao Paulo that out of the 3 million Brazilians exposed to Bitcoin only a meagre 600,000 invest in stocks. These numbers prompted the company to venture into the crypto world.

Benchimol was quoted as saying,

“I must confess, this is a theme I’d rather didn’t exist, but it does. We felt obligated to start advancing in this market.”

According to news sources, the exchange, will operate separately from XP’s other brokerage businesses. It will be called XDEX and will have around 40 employees, to start with. The exchange will be run by Thiago Maffra.

Benchimol also noted that Brazil’s biggest independent broker XP is looking to achieve a target of 1 trillion reais ($245 billion) by 2020, which is four times the money it hopes to accumulate by the year-end. Additionally, they are also planning to launch a bank in the next few months. Owing to the massive target to achieve, the company is looking at investments towards the company’s targets through cryptos.

Earlier in April, Grupo XP had declared its plans to launch an over-encounter (OTC) BTC exchange. The move was the first for XP, which initially registered an outfit called XP COIN INTERMEDIACAO in August 2017. Later that year, following a 5 million reals (about $1.5 million) capital injection, the company rebranded to become XDEX.

Again, in April 2018, Brazil’s Department of Federal Revenue confirmed that XP Investimentos SA had registered XDEX INTERMEDIACAO LTDA, with a registered capital of about $7.3 million.

Despite being the largest economy in South America, Brazil showed little interest in the Crypto industry. However, of late the scenario seems to be undergoing a drastic makeover. The government, public institutions, education system, individuals all seem to be routing towards the trending cryptocurrency and associated blockchain technology.

Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) is reportedly working on a document that would detail the regulations related to investment in crypto assets. The document would also serve as the perfect guide to fund managers on ways to participate in the global cryptocurrency markets.

Brazil’s changing approach towards crypto and XP Investimentos SA forge into the cryptocurrency arena can be considered as a very positive development. An unnamed source revealed that around 150 startups are dedicated working to shape up blockchain platforms for education and fintech projects. If all goes well, Brazil would definitely spearhead the cryptocurrency race in South America.