Brazil's Largest Bank Itaú Enters Tokenized Securities Pilot With OpenAssets

Itaú Unibanco, Latin America's largest lender, is testing how fixed-income securities and investment funds can be issued, traded, and settled using distributed-ledger technology. The bank has partnered with OpenAssets on a pilot program overseen by the Brazilian Financial and Capital Markets Association (ANBIMA), according to CoinDesk's reporting.

Itaú holds more than $562 billion in total assets, according to S&P Global, and is now moving beyond experimental blockchain initiatives into regulated tokenization trials. The project will examine the technical standards and regulatory rules needed for banks and asset managers to operate tokenized systems at scale.

OpenAssets, the tokenization infrastructure firm backing the pilot, raised $10 million last year led by Latin America-focused venture firm Valor Capital Group. The funding round included participation from Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, and members of the family that founded Itaú, as reported by CoinDesk. Gabor Gurbacs, OpenAssets' chairman and CEO, stated: "Brazil has been one of the most forward-looking markets in finance and it is a natural place to move tokenization from exploration to production."

Brazil has become a testing ground for tokenization beyond this pilot. In July 2025, Brazilian credit structuring and securitization firm VERT Capital unveiled plans to tokenize as much as $1 billion of debt and receivables on the XDC Network. Brazil-based crypto exchange Mercado Bitcoin has shared plans to tokenize $200 million in assets on the XRP Ledger, including fixed-income and equity instruments. In an unusual case of infrastructure adoption, farmers in Paraná tokenized 10 cows and put the tokens up for trading through infrastructure connected to Brazil's B3 exchange, according to CoinDesk.

Itaú has prior experience with blockchain-based financial systems. The bank was among institutions selected by Brazil's central bank in 2023 to participate in the Drex pilot, which tested blockchain-based transactions involving tokenized money and assets.

Market researchers have estimated substantial upside from tokenization. Citi has estimated that tokenized securities could grow into a $5.5 trillion market by 2030 as financial assets move onto blockchain-based systems, per CoinDesk's reporting.