Brazil’s stock exchange B3 has confirmed that it intends to launch its first official product for the cryptocurrency market – Bitcoin (BTC) futures trading – within six months. The group's chief financial officer, André Milanez, made the announcement during a conference call on Monday.
Milanez didn't provide many details about how the product would work. It is unclear whether B3 will enter into a partnership or directly offer bitcoin futures trading, but the launch is said to be relatively short-lived. “We plan to launch bitcoin futures in the next three to six months,” he said.
Currently, in Brazil, institutional and retail investors can trade 11 ETFs with exposure to cryptocurrencies through B3, including CRPT11 from Empiricus and Vitreo; NFTS11 from Investo; QBTC11, QETH11 and QDFI11 from QR Assets, and QDFI11 from Hashdex META11, HASH11, BITH11, ETHE11, DEFI11, WEB311. Additionally, in Brazil, there are more than 25 investment funds approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) that provide market exposure to different types of crypto assets.
In January, B3 Information Technology Director Jochen Mielke de Lima had said that the Brazilian stock exchange would launch several cryptocurrency-related products in 2022, including Bitcoin futures and Ethereum (ETH) futures
At the time, the executive emphasized that since 2016, the Brazilian stock exchange has been closely following the cryptocurrency market from a technical standpoint.
According to the statement, B3 only needs to resolve the question of whether to use the U.S. dollar or the Brazilian real as the reference index. Futures contracts require a reference index, so if the team chooses Brazil’s national currency, it will be necessary to form an index of cryptoassets in reals — something that doesn’t exist yet.
The B3 representative also stated that it is exploring ways to provide data inputs for the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).
B3 and cryptocurrencies
According to Jochen Mielke de Lima, in addition to BTC and ETH futures, B3 intends to serve national cryptocurrency exchanges and become a “hub” for custody and settlement operations:
“We have about 30 national cryptocurrency exchanges in addition to the international exchanges operating here. We can provide services to facilitate and standardize their operations. I believe it has something to explore in providing custody services and settlement processes The place."
Mielke also said that the cryptocurrency market is very similar to the regulated stock market in that it involves issuance, trading, settlement and custody. As such, he said B3 could help solve a common problem among exchanges.
"We're looking for friction points that we can help address, such as helping our customers provide the best channels to engage with end customers," he said.
In addition, B3 plans to launch other cryptocurrency and blockchain-based products in 2022, including research on platforms such as asset tokenization, cryptocurrency trading, and cryptocurrency custody.
“Trading and access to liquidity centers: this means reducing the complexity of accessing a decentralized, global and 24x7 market; digital asset custody: providing reliable custody (hence, the purpose of blockchain transactions); OTC facilitation : In this way, it hopes to provide greater security and efficiency in terms of the flow and DVP of digital assets; Low-friction exploration of the cryptocurrency market,” B3 emphasized.
The B3 representative stated that they expect to officially launch the reinsurance platform in 2022. This will work on the Corda blockchain R3 and is a collaboration between B3 Exchange and IRB Brazil.
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