Grupo XP, which is Brazil’s largest independent brokerage and the owner of XP Investomentios SA has also entered the crypto arena. The brokerage house is launching a Bitcoin and Ethereum trading exchange in the next few months, according to a Bloomberg report.

Fast-changing market dynamics at play

Guilherme Benchimol, the Chief Executive Officer of the firm stated his plans at an event held in Sao Paulo. There are a growing number of crypto enthusiasts in the country; with nearly 3 million Brazilians having exposure to Bitcoin trading. On the other hand, the number of Brazilians involved in stock trading/investment is much lesser at 600,000. Such an enormous exposure to cryptocurrencies has pushed Grupo XP to venture in this thriving business.

The exchange is going to be run by Thiago Maffra and will be set apart from XP’s other brokerage businesses. XDEX will the name for this crypto exchange and it will have around 40 employees. However, Grupo XP has entered this sector reluctantly. “I wish that this theme of crypto craze extending to Brazilian lands didn’t exist, but it does,” Benchimol said. “We were compelled by market dynamics to start advancing in this business.”

Brazil’s improving business climate for cryptocurrency trading

Brazil’s past has been full of skepticism with regards to cryptocurrencies, as its Central Bank Chief Ilan Goldfajn compared them with a bubble and a Ponzi scheme. However, Brazilian regulators are now obligated to accept this industry and are easing rules of business. This week, regulators issued a set of rules which allow funds to make investments in crypto-assets abroad but with certain limitations.

Grupo XP has been expanding rapidly over the past few years. It is targeting to raise 1 tillion reais ($245 billion) by the year 2020 and is also launching a bank in the next few months. The firm has also offered online investment platforms to Brazil’s growing middle class. Itau Unibanco Holding SA, a banking giant, agreed to buy a minority stake in Grupo XP last year.

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