Rico , a Brazil-based brokerage platform, has announced plans of entering the crypto market by offering digital asset products and services starting 2023. The company will also be expanding into banking with plans of launching credit card and digital account services, mirroring other companies such as Nubank, which already made similar moves earlier.

The new products will be run by Banco XP but will be under Rico’s branding. Rico is setting itself apart from its competitors, who are focusing their efforts on bagging large investment accounts and institutional clients. Instead, the brokerage platform will focus on younger investors whose monthly income is around USD 1,000.

According to the officials, the company wants to help clients have a healthy consumption so they can become savers, investors, and later big investors. With the addition of these new services, Rico expects to triple its number of users by 2025. The company will also introduce a feature where customers will be able to make investments using their credit cards, which will supposedly allow clients to continue their monthly investment plans uninterrupted despite unexpected expenses.

The Brazilian market Lately, Brazilian banks and financial companies have upgraded their offerings by entering into the crypto space to meet the demand for crypto products from their clientele. Neobanks like Nubank and Picpay have also included cryptocurrency trading services in their platforms this year, and even Santander and Itau Unibanco have announced they will also offer some crypto-focused services. Brazil is one of a few large economies with significant investments in cryptocurrencies.

In a survey conducted by US-based crypto platform Gemini, 41% of Brazilians admitted to owning Bitcoins or Altcoins. Brazil is representative of Latin America that brings together more cryptocurrency-active owners, ahead of Colombia (7. 7%), Mexico (5.

9%) and Argentina (4%), the report adds. The ranking is led by South Africa (10. 7%), followed by Thailand (9.

9%), Indonesia (9. 5%) and Vietnam (9. 1%).

According to a report by the Business Administration School of Sao Paulo, the average Brazilian market participant has two or three cryptocurrencies in their wallet. 92% of the crypto users are male, and regardless of gender, 40% of crypto holders are 20 to 25 years old. The age groups 26-30 and 31-40 respectively represent 20%.

Fintech innovation in Brazil In Latin America, Brazil is the largest country and the biggest fintech market. In the first quarter of 2021, Brazilian startups received over USD 400 million. The Brazilian fintech market in 2020 had gathered USD 1.

3 billion, which was 73% more investments than in 2019, according to a report. As of the first half of 2019, around 400 fintech companies in 12 Brazilian regions had their operation up and running. The factors like active young population, bank monopolization, and favouring regulations played a decisive part in the growth of Brazilian fintechs.

Despite the break-ground offerings from fintechs, many Brazilians are still concerned about fraud and data mishandling. With banking going digital, Brazilians grow increasingly concerned about cybercrimes, and some are likely to stick to traditional banking services. .