Brazil's main stock exchange, B3, will launch night trading sessions later this year featuring Bitcoin ETFs and Ibovespa futures. The move will move trading hours to 9:45pm domestically (which is 12:45am in London and 7:45pm in New York) in response to individual investor demand for more flexible trading options.
In addition to bitcoin, B3 also opens trading for Ibovespa ETFs—the country's equivalent of the US S&P 500.
“At the end of the day, there are a large number of people who want to trade. We see that there is a certain demand for this type of operation,” Gilson Finkelstein, president of B3, said in a press release on Thursday. However, he noticed. “That's a challenge. It adds cost, it adds risk. We have to test whether it's good or bad for liquidity.”
This expansion of trading hours is not only a logistical change, but also represents a broader change in Brazil's financial markets. Brazil has been at the forefront of cryptocurrency adoption, and is home to the most crypto ETFs in the Americas. The country's first crypto ETF, HASH11, was approved in 2021, setting a precedent in the region. In contrast, the United States recently approved its first spot Bitcoin ETF in January 2023 and has no application for any spot crypto ETF that features altcoins.
Finkelstein is also considering extending B3 regular trading sessions for one more hour, and wants to increase liquidity as a strategic goal this year.
Brazilian crypto romance
Integrating digital assets with traditional financial structures is becoming increasingly common. Major Brazilian banks and brokers are actively exploring blockchain and crypto-based business models. Itaú (Brazil's largest private bank) is moving into tokenized assets, and Nubank, Brazil's largest digital bank, has introduced a native cryptocurrency, NucoinEven, the Brazilian central bank works on a distributed ledger that is testing its own CBDC, DREX. Additionally, several key banks have formed partnerships or proprietary brokerages to offer Bitcoin funds and ETFs to the general public.
Andre Portilho, Head of Digital Assets at BTG Pactual, commented on the evolving crypto market.
Andre Portilho, head of digital assets at Brazil's largest investment bank, told B3 that bitcoin's volatility is slowly declining, “the crypto market is becoming like the stock market.” “Bitcoin is losing volatility and is now lower than many Nasdaq stocks like biotech.”
The regulatory environment in Brazil was also conducive to this growth. In the final days of President Bolsonaro's administration, cryptocurrencies were officially approved as a means of payment.
Portilho's statements show how much Brazilian investors see crypto.
“The evaluation of investing in crypto assets is very similar to any other investment. It depends on the portfolio and the profile of the individual,” he said. He emphasized the importance of understanding the nature of the asset and its potential impact on risk and return on the investment portfolio.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
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