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Brazil’s largest investment firm to launch OTC cryptocurrency desk

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Andrew Munro
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Brazil has no plans of getting strict on cryptocurrency, and established firms might be able to make a smooth move.

Brazil's largest investment firm, XP Investimentos, with almost US$1 billion of assets under management, is aiming to launch an over the counter (OTC) cryptocurrency exchange, CoinTelegraph reports.

OTC services are designed to facilitate relatively high volumes compared to standard exchanges, letting customers buy or sell the amount they want without experiencing price slippage or needing to hold funds on an exchange.

OTC exchanges account for a considerable portion of the total cryptocurrency trade, but the exact amount is unknown.

XP Investimentos has not yet officially announced its plans, but beyond reports from anonymous insiders, the company also registered a brand called XP COIN INTERMEDIACAO in August 2017, which later rebranded to XDEX, according to data from the São Paulo State Board of Trade. XDEX already has an empty placeholder website.

Brazil might also be a lucrative spot for cryptocurrency trading. The president of Brazil's central bank, Ilan Goldfajn, has previously rebuffed bitcoin as a pyramid scheme but has also said that Brazil has no intention of regulating digital currency trading.

There's undoubtedly plenty of interest in the country, and a light-regulation environment might serve to cut overhead for enterprises that aim to get started in Brazil. It might also benefit OTC exchanges specifically, with a lack of official security or reliability around cryptocurrency exchanges driving the more affluent buyers towards a well-known institution that they are already investing with.

Elsewhere in Latin America, Chile's cryptocurrency exchanges have been buffered with abrupt hostility from banks, and have lost their fiat currency accounts. Many of those exchanges also served the wider South American region beyond Chile, including Brazil.

Disclosure: At the time of writing the author holds ETH, IOTA, ICX, VEN, XLM, BTC, NANO

Disclaimer: This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of cryptocurrency or any specific provider, service or offering. It is not a recommendation to trade. Cryptocurrencies are speculative, complex and involve significant risks – they are highly volatile and sensitive to secondary activity. Performance is unpredictable and past performance is no guarantee of future performance. Consider your own circumstances, and obtain your own advice, before relying on this information. You should also verify the nature of any product or service (including its legal status and relevant regulatory requirements) and consult the relevant Regulators' websites before making any decision. Finder, or the author, may have holdings in the cryptocurrencies discussed.

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