Itaú Unibanco Tackles Tokenized Finance in Regulatory Sandbox
Brazil's largest bank, Itaú Unibanco, is pushing into tokenized finance by testing tokenized bonds and funds in a regulatory sandbox. The pilot, overseen by ANBIMA, the Brazilian securities industry watchdog, aims to explore how tokens can be used for end-to-end settlement on distributed ledgers.
The test builds on Itaú's earlier experiments with blockchain for settlement and asset registration. Tokenization specialist OpenAssets is working with the bank to ensure ownership rights are properly recorded, handle corporate actions on-chain, and improve liquidity profiles through real-time settlement.
ANBIMA's pilot is part of a broader push by Brazilian regulators to modernize capital markets. The country's central bank has also been advancing its Drex digital currency project, which could eventually connect with tokenized securities.