Brazil's stock exchange to launch bitcoin futures trading

Stocks Exchange (B3) headquarters in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil

Image: Nelson Almeida/AFP

Brazilian stock exchange B3 has announced its plans to launch Bitcoin (BTC) futures this year. Chief Financial Officer André Milanez made the announcement during a conference call on Monday, May 16.

Though Milanez didn't go into great detail about how the product will work, and it's unclear whether B3 will enter into a partnership or offer Bitcoin futures directly, Milanez did indicate that the timing for the product's launch was rather short. "We plan to launch bitcoin futures in the next three to six months," he said.

Milanez noted that the exchange is currently building the infrastructure to make crypto market access available to end-users. Currently, B3 offers exposure to crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed in the Brazilian regulated market. Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) of Brazil has approved more than 25 investment funds that offer different types of exposure to crypto assets.

B3's director of information technology, Jochen Mielke de Lima, had announced in January that the stock exchange would debut products with crypto exposure this year, including Bitcoin and Ethereum futures. He also said that since 2016, the Brazilian stock exchange has been researching the cryptocurrency sector from a technology aspect. According to his statement, B3 simply needed to decide whether the negotiations would be conducted against US dollars or Brazilian reals.