by Sergio Goschenko
Rico, a Brazilian brokerage platform part of XP Inc., has announced it plans to enter the cryptocurrency market next year. The division is expanding its operations and will also enter the banking sector, launching digital account services and a credit card. The platform follows in the steps of companies like Nubank and others that have already included crypto in their service portfolio.
Brazilian companies and banks are entering the cryptocurrency business as a way of offering a complete package of investments under just one organization. Rico, a Brazilian brokerage firm part of XP Inc., has announced it is expanding its portfolio of operations to include new services, including crypto.
The company told Neofeed it plans to launch a cryptocurrency exchange on its platform for the next year, and also to enter into the world of insurance. In the same way, the company expects to launch a digital account with an associated card by the end of this year.
These products will be run by Banco XP, but managed through Rico’s branding. The firm expects these products to be available for 50% of customers upon launch.
While other competitors focus on institutional investors and large investment accounts, Rico will focus on younger players in the field, whose income is about $1,000. About this interest in these often overlooked investors, Pedro Canellas of Rico stated:
We want to help clients to have a healthy consumption so they can become savers, investors and, later, big investors. We are going to reach a part of the population that few people are looking at.
The company is confident that with these additions, it will triple its user base by 2025. According to Canellas, one of the features of the platform will include the possibility of investing from a credit card.
This will ostensibly enable users to pay part of their investments monthly, and keep investing, even on the level of income that Rico’s average customer receives (around $2,000).
Rico is just the latest platform that is adding cryptocurrency services in Brazil. Neobanks like Nubank and Picpay have also included cryptocurrency trading services in their platforms this year, and even Santander and Itau Unibanco have announced they will also offer some crypto-focused services.
However, not every bank is behind this market. Bradesco, the second biggest Brazilian bank, clarified recently it is not interested in the crypto market due to its small size.
What do you think about Rico and its plans for launching a cryptocurrency exchange next year? Tell us in the comments section below.
Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. He describes himself as late to the game, entering the cryptosphere when the price rise happened during December 2017. Having a computer engineering background, living in Venezuela, and being impacted by the cryptocurrency boom at a social level, he offers a different point of view about crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Sidney de Almeida / Shutterstock.com
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