Binance to open offices, launch crypto card in Brazil

abdelaziz Fathi

In a landmark move, crypto exchange Binance announced it will officially set up two new offices in Brazil.

Binance.US

According to local media, Binance’s core team will consist of 150 employees, who will be able to attend in-office or work remotely. The new offices are located in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, which are considered major business hubs in the country.

Binance is also planning to launch its crypto debit card in Brazil, the second country in Latin America to have the product. Binance debit card works just the same as any other bank card, except it isn’t linked to a mobile banking app, but a crypto wallet.

Binance lets clients top-up their card with funds through the Binance Card App and then convert their crypto holdings to fiat within seconds, which can be spent at over 90 million Mastercard merchants worldwide. As such, the card doesn’t directly connect to the platform’s customer account.

Having entered the local market in 2019, Brazil is one of a few countries where Binance has set up a physical office. However, a group of local brokerage firms lodged a complaint against the exchange back in March accusing it of operating illegally in the country.

The move comes nearly three months after Binance cut ties with its existing payments partner in Brazil due to conflict with “its values.”

Citing the new requirements imposed by the Central Bank of Brazil, Capitual said it had to cut ties with Binance as the exchange failed to comply with the new rules. The Brazilian bank, which also provides payments services for other exchanges, said Kucoin and Huobi have adapted their systems to the changes. As such, they remain operational on the Capitual platform, and their customers can continue their transactions with reais regularly.

Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals in Brazilian reals through the government’s payment system Pix in June. Of note, the payments blockage coincided with the end of a deadline imposed by the Brazilain central bank for Pix providers to implement new “know your customer” requirements.

Binance was also reportedly planning to buy banks and payments processors in Brazil as a way into the market. It has already signed a memorandum of understanding to potentially acquire Brazilian securities brokerage firm, Sim;paul Investimentos. However, the takeover requires Binance to get approval from both the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM) and the Central Bank of Brazil.

Read this next

Digital Assets

Societe Generale launches its own cryptocurrency, EURCV

French banking giant Societe Generale has launched its own euro-pegged stablecoin, EUR CoinVertible (EURCV). This move by France’s third-largest bank reflects the increasing trend of mainstream financial institutions embracing cryptocurrencies on a global scale.

Executive Moves

Stelios Eleftheriou leaves NAGA Group to join BVNK

BVNK, the crypto-powered payments and banking platform for businesses, has appointed FX industry veteran Stelios Eleftheriou, who has a colorful career across the gaming industry, as Business Development Director (CFD & iGaming).

Retail FX

CAPEX.com introduce ETFs on UAE, Saudi stocks

Abu Dhabi-based broker CAPEX.com has expanded its asset class offerings to include a new suite of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) tailored for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) markets.

Institutional FX

Tradeweb Markets surges past $1.80 ADV in November

Tradeweb Markets Inc. (Nasdaq: TW) has reported a total trading volume of $38.2 trillion and a record average daily volume (ADV) of $1.80 trillion for November 2023. These figures mark a 59.2% year-over-year increase.

Inside View

A Mission in Accounting

Ismael Haber, an auditor and accountant, has made it his mission to help businesses improve the quality of their financial information by eliminating fraud and error. In the next five years, the demand for these specific financial services, being external financial audits, forensic accounting, and other fraud preventive and detective services is envisaged to increase.

Institutional FX

CME Group to launch new spot FX marketplace ‘CME FX Spot+’ in 2024

US derivatives exchange, CME Group today announced plans to introduce ‘CME FX Spot+’, a novel spot foreign exchange (FX) marketplace.

Interviews

FMLS:2023: Andrew Mreana provides an exclusive sneak peek into cTrader’s 2024 innovations

cTrader’s focus for the next year would be on developing new tools for Introducing Brokers (IBs) and partners, particularly those related to algorithmic (algo) trading, the company’s head of growth told FinanceFeed in an exclusive interview at the Finance Magnates London Summit 2023.

Digital Assets

Grayscale’s Ethereum ETF stalls: SEC extends review to January 2024

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended the evaluation period for Grayscale’s proposed Ethereum spot ETF.

Institutional FX

BMLL completes China equity data offering: Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong

“Demand for China data has never been higher. This is set against a general industry trend of increased market participant sophistication, and an increasing demand for quality historic market data to understand market microstructure and venue behaviour. Market participants need to get the full picture of market quality, liquidity and order book dynamics to ultimately make better informed decisions on the markets they trade and the venues they run.”

<