Nubank, a Brazilian neobank and the largest fintech bank in Latin America, announced to launch of its own cryptocurrency, Nucoin, in 2023. It will be the first financial institution to make a move into digital assets.  

The digital token will be called Nucoin, issued with the help of the Polygon network, a second layer, “Layer 2” protocol that aims to alleviate congestion on the Ethereum blockchain. This gives the advantage to the users to transact at a lower fee, also, it will be airdropped to the users of the bank.

The digital token, Nucoin will be launched in the first half of 2023, said the Bank. The company shared a press release in which they called Nucoin “a new way to recognize customer loyalty and encourage engagement with Nubank products.” The objective of this move is to ramp up the loyalty and benefits program of the bank.  The bank further discloses its plan to offer perks such as discounts and more to the Nucoin token holders.

General manager for Nucoin at Nubank,  Fernando Czapski, said in a statement, “The project is another step ahead in our belief in the transformative potential of blockchain technology and to democratize it, even more, going beyond the purchase, sale, and maintenance of cryptocurrencies in the Nu app.”

Nubank will create a forum group to explain the guidelines for the development of Nucoin as per the firm, “adhering to common practices in blockchain projects.” They will invite 2,000 customers, Nubank said, “In this phase, more than feedback, the proposal is to explore a decentralized process of product creation, characteristic of Web3.”

Nubank has not mentioned whether the token will carry a market value, however, they have explained that Nucoin will help the bank users to avail of products and services of the bank at a discounted price.

The company isnt the first one to launch its own coin, JPMorgan rolled out its own digital asset, JPMCoin. In May, Nubank became the first financial institution to launch cryptocurrency trading services in Brazil, followed by other companies, such as Itau Unibanco and Picpay, Rico. During that time, the company also informed that it holds bitcoin as a part of its treasury.