Stark Bank Sees Opportunity to Serve Brazil’s Crypto Startups Ignored by Traditional Banks

Brazilian online-only bank Stark Bank reportedly aims to serve the country’s cryptocurrency startups.

The company sees an opportunity to position itself as a banking provider for these startups at a time when the crypto sector is still shunned by traditional lenders but is becoming more attractive due to U.S. President Donald Trump’s support for crypto, Bloomberg reported Wednesday (March 12).

“The technology is here to stay, and our idea is to target that niche,” Stark Bank CEO Rafael Stark said, per the report.

The business bank works with 52 firms focused on digital currencies and blockchain technologies; helps nearly 800 clients process payments, pay bills and manage corporate credit cards; and, through its Stark Infra unit, builds tech solutions to sell to third parties or clients, according to the report.

Stark Bank is improving its marketing to complement the word of mouth that has brought it new clients, the report said.

“Competitors often look at what the other one is doing, and they see they’re using Stark,” Stark said, per the report. “That happened a lot in the crypto segment.”

Stark Bank raised $45 million in a Series B funding round in April 2022 with support from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The transaction was the first deal in Brazil from Bezos Expeditions, the investment firm that serves as the management team for Bezos’ personal investments.

The deal followed a $13 million investment from venture capital investors in an initial round.

In February 2024, Stark Bank said that in 2023 it processed 155 billion reais (about $27 billion) in payments, marking a three-fold increase from the previous year. The company also saw its net income more than double to 71.5 million reais.

The company said at the time that it had 600 clients and was growing as it aimed to capture market share from traditional corporate banks in Brazil.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit said in January that it is making inroads into taking crypto payments mainstream in Brazil with its new payment solution, Bybit Pay, which enables users to make payments in fiat currency and cryptocurrency.

Bybit Pay integrates with the Brazilian Pix instant payment system developed by the Central Bank of Brazil.