Brazil is a country where crypto adoption is rapidly growing. The government has even incentivized mining in Brazil by waiving tax duties on imports of mining rigs.
After a major property developer announced that it would accept bitcoin (BTC), payment for new apartments (see below), Exame, a Brazilian media outlet, listed nine “major” domestic companies that are looking to enter the crypto world. This is as more Brazilians and companies seek to move into a Web-powered future.
The adoption rate in the country is so rapid that, even though this article was being written, another major player stated it would be starting its own crypto journey, increasing the number to 10.
99 — The Exame List begins with a tech unicorn. It is a taxi- and vehicle-hire app that was established in Sao Paulo. Now it serves around 300 Brazilian cities and towns. It was purchased by Didi Chuxing, also known as DiDi in 2017 and its 99 Pay epay platform recently announced that it is now looking to offer BTC-related financial services.
BTG Pactual — Brazil’s largest investment bank launched Mynt, a crypto trading platform. It was launched in 2019 by Mynt. The space had been dominated previously with a variety of crypto-themed exchange traded funds (ETFs).
Empiricus — This financial publishing firm has made a “head-first dive into crypto” and lists crypto among its three largest business areas. It has a crypto ETF, and some of its equity has been invested in a Vitreo-operated crypto fund.
Even — This company is the OG in crypto real estate in Brazil. Thanks to a deal with Mercado, they have already sold USD 210,000 worth property in crypto. All properties it sells accept BTC and Ethereum (ETH).
Gafisa — Gafisa, another property giant, is a newcomer in crypto but has been following the sector for more than a year. The initial 437 apartments will be available for purchase via Bitcoin Pay. However, it is likely to follow Even and allow all customers to buy real estate in crypto. Foxbit, a crypto exchange, has been partnered by the firm on this project.
Havaianas — The footwear company giant started its crypto journey using a non-fungible token project (NFT). In 2021, Adhemas Batista, a digital designer, partnered with Havaianas to sell NFT.
Reserva — Reserva is another fashion giant that has been using NFTs in recent years. With its latest drop, Reserva’s NFTs selling in less than 50 minutes, it “earned the same amount as a month of physical sales” and its last drop, Reserva saw its NFTs sell out in under a minute. In 2018, the company began accepting Bitcoin payments.
Cryptonews.com reported that Nubank, a new neobank, has begun to offer its customers trading access only to a few cryptoassets. This is in preparation for a wider rollout to all its customers in the future. Nubank will also invest 1% of its equity via Nu Holdings in a BTC purchase.
Meliuz — This loyalty and cashback provider has chosen to go in a more indirect way into crypto. They have bought Acesso Bank (a financial institution that conducts crypto-related transactions in Brazil) as well as Meliuz.
Sao Paulo FC — This Brazilian football team is one of the most important in the world. They became the first to accept cryptocurrency payments for match tickets at the iconic Morumbi Stadium. Exame reported that Sao Paulo will now accept BTC and other cryptoassets after signing a deal with Bitso, which is also a sponsor of the club. The club will accept many exotic tokens, including memecoins dogecoin and shiba Inu (SHIB). The crypto-pay options will initially be restricted to fan club members, but the media outlet said that this will soon be extended to all customers.
Exame also noted that smaller companies are active in the cryptocurrency space. Exame mentioned startups such as a cannabis company, a manufacturer of absorbent underwear and another real estate firm. The latter is currently doing most of its business on Decentraland’s metaverse.
