Brazil's largest private bank recommends up to 3% investment in Bitcoin

Key Takeaways

• Brazil's largest private bank advises allocating 1% to 3% of investment portfolios to Bitcoin for diversification.
• Bitcoin offers protection against currency devaluation and low correlation with traditional assets.

Itaú Unibanco, Brazil’s largest private bank, has recommended that investors allocate 1%-3% of their investment portfolio to Bitcoin to enhance diversification and protect themselves against currency devaluation.

“Maintaining a well-diversified portfolio and adopting a calibrated allocation to assets such as Bitcoin appears to be a robust strategy. The objective is not to make crypto assets the core of a portfolio, but rather to integrate them as a complementary component,” Renato Eid, head of beta strategies and ESG Integration at Itaú Asset Management, stated in a recent report .

“The aim is to capture returns that are uncorrelated with domestic cycles, provide partial protection against currency depreciation, and add long-term appreciation potential,” the analyst noted.

Major financial institutions are increasingly integrating digital assets into their wealth management strategies.

The Global Investment Committee at Morgan Stanley has recommended 2%–4% allocations to crypto assets for suitable clients, calling Bitcoin a digital gold and describing the assets as speculative but maturing.

Bank of America has advised its wealth management clients to consider allocating 1% to 4% of their portfolios to digital assets via regulated investment vehicles.

The bank plans to begin research coverage of four Bitcoin ETFs from Bitwise, Fidelity, Grayscale, and BlackRock in January, enabling its 15,000 advisers to recommend these products.