The executive behind the digital assets area of Itaú Unibanco, Guto Antunes, stated this Wednesday (30th) at Web Summit Rio that "not being able to withdraw crypto assets is an evolution."
The intention of the head of digital assets at the largest commercial bank in the country, according to Itaú, was to protect the customer. This is because the restriction may prevent the misuse of crypto assets.
Itaú says its focus is to prevent money laundering.
Published by the Portal do Bitcoin, the news hit like a bomb in the middle of Web Summit Rio and was even commented on at one of the event's stages.
Another argument used to justify the statement was the lack of a regulation on the subject, which is currently in progress in Brazil. According to Itaú's press office, the focus was not to indicate that not allowing withdrawals is an evolution.
This way, we can have visibility of the destination of these values and prevent issues like money laundering.
Officially, the bank's position is to wait for the advancement of regulation to proceed with features, such as the wallet out, in a secure manner. This mode practically allows Itaú customers to withdraw crypto purchased at the institution to an external wallet.
The issue of not being able to withdraw crypto assets is an evolution. Crypto was an object of money laundering and financing crime. They used the intermediation of cryptos because it was very easy: you bought an asset and could transfer it from anywhere and in any way 24/7. Organized crime realized this and began to use crypto for that purpose. That's why many people back then said that 'crypto is for criminals, crypto is dangerous,' said Antunes.
Risks and lack of regulation.
Guto was questioned about the statement; however, he maintained his opinion.
We study customer behavior a lot and talk to the regulator. [...] Having regulation for crypto is very important and is happening. Once we have a common law, we will know what can and cannot be done, added the digital assets executive of Itaú.
"What we see today are large volumes of crypto assets being used for money laundering and financing crime — this exists. And, from the moment you facilitate exits, without regulation or oversight, you start to have risk. When you go to a large scale, for cross-border payments, it needs to be monitored more closely to maintain proper use. So the general concern is how we will do this in a way that does not limit technology but also allows for monitoring what is happening within these cases of abuse," concluded Antunes.
Itaú offers Bitcoin, Solana, USDC among others.
Since last December, the bank has been offering Bitcoin and Ethereum to customers. Last week, it added new cryptos such as USDC and Solana to its portfolio.
Itaú’s AI investment agents are expected to gain traction throughout the year.
Still during Web Summit Rio, Milton Maluhy Filho, CEO of Itaú Unibanco, announced that the institution is betting on investment agents with artificial intelligence (AI). The product should be available before the 2nd semester for the bank's base of 70 million customers.
The idea is that these investment advisors with AI gain traction by the end of the year for the retail audience. The executive revealed this information on stage at Web Summit Rio 2025 during the Corporate Innovation Summit. Maluhy stated that Itaú has already modernized more than 70% of the operational environment.
We hope that our customers have well-being through simple solutions that resolve and facilitate their lives in interaction with banks.
Our role is to redefine what the financial sector has done in recent years, and we want to lead this transformation through AI, he added.
The article Head of Crypto at Itaú: "not being able to withdraw crypto assets is an evolution" was first seen on BeInCrypto Brasil.
