Federal Senate approves regulation of the Brazilian cryptocurrency market
Photo: Agência Brasil

This Tuesday, the 26th, the Federal Senate approved a project that provides for the regulation of the Brazilian cryptocurrency market. The text has guidelines for the “provision of virtual asset services” and regulates the operation of companies providing these services. Now, the proposal returns to the Chamber of Deputies.

According to Agência Brasil, cryptocurrencies are a kind of completely digital money, marketed over the internet. The rapid growth of this sector worldwide is causing concern about its use for money laundering due to insufficient regulation. For the new market to work, providers of virtual assets services will have to obtain prior authorization “from an agency or entity of the Federal Public Administration”.

According to the approved text, a virtual asset is “the digital representation of value that can be traded or transferred by electronic means and used to make payments or for investment purposes”, with the exception of traditional national currencies and assets already regulated by law. . The Executive Branch will need to appoint an agency of the Federal Public Administration to establish which financial assets will be regulated by the future law.

The provision of virtual assets service must respect certain conditions, such as the obligation to control and maintain customer resources in a segregated manner. It will also have to adopt good governance practices, transparency in operations and a risk-based approach; information security and protection of personal data; protection and defense of consumers and users; protection of popular savings; solidity and efficiency of operations.

It will also be required to prevent money laundering, concealment of assets, rights and values, combat the activities of criminal organizations, the financing of terrorism and the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in accordance with international standards.

Cryptocurrency regulation proposal will not include NFTs

However, this regulation will not include NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). According to the rapporteur of the approved substitute, Senator Irajá (PSD-TO), the NFT, a type of digital certificate of a service, may be regulated by the Executive in an act subsequent to the approval of the project aimed at the cryptocurrency market.