The Central Bank (BC) established rules for the cryptoactive market in Brazil, among them, it established virtual asset service providers (SPSVAs), which may be created to operate in this sector. This Monday (10), the authority published three resolutions on virtual assets, including which operations are included in the foreign exchange market and which situations are subject to international capital regulation.
“It is a debate that has a great impact on several national and international organizations and has many issues associated with financial stability and also with the use of these instruments with the aim of hiding assets and things like that”, said the BC Regulation director, Gilneu Vivan.
“The big challenge was to balance encouraging innovation with security in trading for the financial system,” he added.
The BC reported that virtual assets represent an important opportunity for innovation in the financial system, through decentralized management, reduced trading costs, gains in transparency and integration between different types of products and services. The agency highlights that these tools help to increase efficiency and financial inclusion.
The regulation aims to limit the risks of virtual systems without centralized administration, while at the same time not preventing the emergence of new developments in the sector, explains the BC.
Among the principles observed are free enterprise, free competition, in addition to the protection and defense of consumers and users.
In 2022, the Law 14,478 brought guidelines for the provision of virtual asset services in the country and, in 2023, the Decree 11,563 established the Central Bank as the competent body to regulate the sector. The Federal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) also participated in the process, in a “transversal and coordinated” way.
The approved texts underwent public consultations and received contributions from institutions in the virtual asset market, sectors regulated by the Central Bank, associations, law firms, natural persons and entities incorporated abroad.
Regulated market
THE Resolution No. 519 regulates the provision of virtual asset services, who can provide this service and the constitution and operation of SPSAVs. It comes into force on February 2, 2026.
“We are now including negotiations with virtual assets within our regulated market,” said Vivan. “These are measures that will reduce the space for scams, fraud, mainly for the use of this market for money laundering or associated things”, highlighted the director.
According to the BC, the text extends to entities that provide virtual asset services all regulations that deal with topics such as protection and transparency in relationships with customers; prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing; governance requirements; security; internal controls; provision of information; among other obligations and responsibilities.
These services may be provided by some of the institutions authorized to operate by the Central Bank, such as banks and brokers, and by SPSAVs created exclusively for this purpose. The companies will act according to their classification: intermediary, custodian and virtual asset broker.
Authorization
Already the Resolution No. 520 establishes the rules for authorizing the operation of SPSAVs. It comes into force on February 2, 2026.
The standard also updates the authorization processes related to some segments previously regulated by the National Monetary Council (CMN), such as foreign exchange brokerage companies, securities brokers and securities distributors.
The resolution implements general rules common to all these segments and specific rules to ensure a safe and organized transition for the SPSAVs segment. The processes and deadlines for institutions that currently provide virtual asset services to request authorization and comply with the requirements defined in the standard are still specified.
Foreign exchange and international capital
Finally, the Resolution No. 521 establishes rules for some activities of virtual asset service providers (PSAVs), which are now treated as foreign exchange and international capital market operations. The rule comes into force on February 2, 2026 and, from May 4, 2026, it becomes mandatory to provide information to the Central Bank on these operations.
From now on, the following activities carried out with virtual assets are considered foreign exchange market operations:
- international payment or transfer using virtual assets;
- transfer of virtual assets to fulfill obligations arising from the international use of a card or other means of electronic payment;
- transfer of virtual assets to or from a self-custodial wallet, which does not involve payment or international transfer with virtual assets;
- buying, selling or exchanging virtual assets referenced in fiat currency.
According to the BC, PSAVs can provide virtual asset services in the foreign exchange market, as long as they are authorized to operate in this market.
For other authorized institutions that have value limits per exchange transaction with clients, such as brokers and distributors, international payments and transfers with virtual assets begin to observe the same limits when the counterparty is not an institution authorized to operate in this market.
SPSAVs can also provide virtual asset services in the foreign exchange market, with operations involving cash, national or foreign currencies, being prohibited for these institutions. In this case, it should be noted that the international payment or transfer with virtual assets is limited to the amount equivalent to US$100 thousand when the counterparty is not an institution authorized to operate in the foreign exchange market.
The BC resolution also regulates the use of virtual assets in external credit and foreign direct investment operations in the country.
“The objective is to provide greater efficiency and legal security to these operations, avoid potential regulatory arbitrations and protect statistics and national accounts that may be affected by these operations”, highlights the Central Bank.
* With information from the Central Bank
