Nubank, the Brazilian digital bank startup that has rapidly gained millions of customers, is furthering its ambitious cryptocurrency adoption initiatives. On November 22nd, Nubank enabled trading support for 5 more alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) on its popular banking app – Polkadot, Avalanche, Stellar Lumens, Arbitrum, and Optimism. This is an expansion of Nubank’s initial crypto offer launched in May 2022, which started with Bitcoin and Ethereum. Since then, they’ve been proactive about adding other coins like Polygon and Uniswap too.
The addition of this new batch highlights Nubank’s bullish stance towards the long-term viability and integration of cryptocurrencies in banking. Last year, in a pioneering move, Nubank announced plans to purchase Bitcoin worth 1% of its total cash reserves to hold on its balance sheet. The company also has its own crypto-token called Nucoin that it developed and trades on its app. A specialized crypto division named Nubank Crypto cited user feedback as a reason for supporting these specific altcoins and noted the importance of diversification for interested users.
As a high-growth startup, Nubank went public at a whopping $45 billion valuation in 2021 and has substantial backing from major global investors like Warren Buffett, Sequoia Capital, and Goldman Sachs. The promising neobank is also collaborating with Brazil’s central bank on upcoming real-world pilots for the country’s own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) initiative aimed at developing a digital version of Brazil’s real currency. As cryptocurrencies start seeing rapidly increased adoption worldwide, incumbent banks like Itaú in Brazil have also now started developing some crypto services and products to meet rising consumer interest. By expanding its crypto asset support, Nubank is positioning itself to be the leader in this emerging crypto-finance sector in its home country.
