Brazil’s Nubank will launch its own cryptocurrency on Polygon

Nubank, the biggest digital bank in Brazil, is ready to launch a new loyalty program based on cryptocurrency for its more than 65 million members in Latin America.

The bank, which has locations in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, announced on Wednesday that it wants to make its own digital currency. Several news organizations have quoted a statement saying that the project is part of a new loyalty program that Nubank plans to start in the next year.

The new cryptocurrency, called Nucoin, from the bank backed by Warren Buffett will give customers discounts and other perks. According to CNBC, Nucoin is “a novel approach to honor client loyalty and drive participation with Nubank products,” the bank said in a statement. Nucoin’s general manager, Fernando Czapski, added:

“The initiative is an extension of our confidence in the transformational potential of Blockchain technology and its greater democratization, extending beyond the buying, trading, and holding of cryptocurrencies inside the Nu app.

A cryptocurrency of its own

The new coin will be based on Polygon, a Layer 2 network that aims to improve Ethereum’s scalability and reduce congestion. The introduction of the new currency is scheduled for the first half of 2023, and 2000 people will be chosen to test the new coin and direct the project’s progress.

Nubank said, “Right now, instead of feedback, the plan is to look into a Web3-style decentralized product development process.”

Cointelegraph quoted Czapski as saying, “We chose to include a group of customers in this co-creation process so that we could develop our product before it went public and make sure that the program that came out of it met our customers’ needs and expectations.”

Today, Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal also tweeted about the project’s success. He said that the decision by one of the biggest banks in Latin America to create its own currency and financial ecosystem in Polygon shows that cryptocurrencies are getting closer to being “mass accepted.”

This is Nubank’s most recent endeavor to enter the digital asset industry. In June, the bank launched its cryptocurrency trading platform in Brazil, and within one month, it attracted one million customers. This year, the service has gained a large number of consumers, making it one of the bank’s businesses with the highest growth rate.

The bank is backed by billionaire Warren Buffett, whose company Berkshire Hathaway sold a piece of its Visa and Mastercard assets earlier this year to increase its exposure to Nubank by investing $1 billion in the startup.

The banking firm is not the only one developing its own cryptocurrency. In August, Mercado Libre, the biggest online store in Latin America, started its own digital currency in Brazil. This currency is also part of the company’s loyalty program. In the meantime, financial titans like JPMorgan already have their own token.

Cover: Bitcoin raining down on Brazil’s Corcovado – Universal public domain.