This article is from cointelegraph.com.br and the original article can be read here in Portuguese
The Brazilian exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, is studying closing a partnership with the fund manager, regulated by the CVM, Giant Steps, and with that start operating in the investment fund market with exposure to cryptocurrencies, according to the newspaper Valor.
Although the partnership has not yet been officially announced, MB has already confirmed that it has been talking to the manager, which currently manages around R$ 8 billion in assets. However the exchange did not provide details on the products that could originate from the partnership.
However, according to Valor, under the agreement, Giant Steps would take to the quantitative crypto funds it recently created to the new manager and would have a minority stake in the new business.
If the agreement between the companies is confirmed, MB would be the only company in Brazil to act as an exchange and also in the investment fund market regulated as securities.
Recently, the CEO of the Mercado Bitcoin, Reinaldo Rabelo, announced that the company has received approval from the Central Bank of Portugal to start operations in the country with CriptoLoja, an exchange purchased by the Brazilian company.
“Yes, we have Mercado Bitcoin in Europe, along with an incredible team of founders and local entrepreneurs. And yes, we are regulated by a major European Central Bank”, he declared.
Rabelo also declared that the company should make the same move in Latin America and buy new companies to start operations in Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Colombia later this year.
“We want to enter through acquisition, we don’t want to start from scratch. So we start by complying with the regulations of each country. So acquisitions end up being a more obvious path,” she said.
Asian giant in Brazil
While MB expands operations and targets the foreign market, according to information from the newspaper Estado de SĂŁo Paulo, OSL, a large brokerage firm focused on the institutional market for cryptocurrencies, announced that it awaits the approval of the “Bitcoin Law”, in Brazil, to start operations in the country.
Currently, OSL provides liquidity to the 9 cryptocurrency ETFs listed on B3 and, according to information in the publication, would be responsible for more than half of the institutional flow of cryptocurrencies in Brazil.