Brazil’s top bank is revealing that Brazilians have purchased billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies this year, according to Portal do Bitcoin.
The Central Bank of Brazil says that year-to-date, Brazilians have bought crypto assets worth $4.27 billion.
The largest monthly crypto purchase of 2021 occurred in May when Brazilians acquired $756 million worth of cryptocurrencies, according to the reserve bank. June recorded the second largest purchase of crypto assets so far this year, at $695 million. July came in third, with Brazilians buying $583 million worth of crypto.
Central Bank of Brazil’s director of monetary policy Bruno Serra says the value of cryptocurrency investments made by Brazilians could be about three times larger than their investments in US stocks.
In August, the bank’s president Roberto Campos Neto disclosed that Brazilians collectively owned crypto worth about $40 billion.
The disclosure comes months after Brazil approved Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
In March, Brazil’s securities regulator, Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), approved a Bitcoin ETF issued by digital asset manager QR Capital. The Bitcoin ETF bearing the ticker QBTC11 is listed on the Brazilian stock exchange, Brasil Bolsa Balcao (B3). At the time, it was the world’s fourth Bitcoin ETF and the first in South America.
Brazil’s securities regulator also approved an Ethereum ETF issued by QR Capital in July. The Ethereum ETF was the first to be approved in South America and is listed on the B3 with the ticker QETH11. It follows the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s Ethereum index – the CME CF Ether Reference Rate.
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