Right now•2 min read•Regulation
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The bill regulating the cryptocurrency market in Brazil is expected to be passed by the National Congress in the first half of this year, according to Cointelegraph Brazil.
This law has been debated in the Chamber of Deputies since 2015 and has now passed the first round of scrutiny. The Senate has attached another bill dealing with cryptocurrencies, which has already been approved by the Senate Economic Committee.
Senator Irajá Abreu and MP Aureo Ribeiro are the rapporteurs in their respective chambers on the above proposals and are currently working on a unified legal text that the Senate is then expected to vote on.
“I am in constant contact with the chamber’s rapporteur, who has done a very good job. The central bank’s technical team has also been very helpful. The texts are similar and have now been combined into one,” said Senator Irajá.
Irajá also said Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco is expected to put the unified bill to a vote in April. He said:
“By bringing the projects together, we have accelerated the adoption of this crypto milestone. The market is demanding a safe business environment and criminal classification to avoid fraud. This should also include Brazil’s alignment with international agreements.”
If the law were passed, Bitcoin would not become legal tender in Brazil as it did in El Salvador.
The proposed law allows the Brazilian president to appoint an agency to set the rules for cryptocurrencies. The president could either set up a new supervisory authority for this or delegate this function to the Brazilian securities regulator CVM or the Brazilian central bank.
The regulator would then be responsible for defining market policies and setting norms in line with international standards. The goal is to prevent money laundering and asset concealment.
The bill also provides for a four to eight year prison sentence and a fine for people found guilty of fraud in the provision of virtual asset services.
The draft also highlights incentivizing crypto miners to establish themselves in Brazil. The import of ASICs into the country should be tax-free. That may not be enough to attract bitcoin miners to the country, however, as Brazil’s electricity prices are among the highest in South America. They are about five times higher compared to Paraguay or Venezuela.
