Brazil's central bank, Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), has completed its regulatory framework to subject crypto companies to banking-style oversight.
Key components of the new regulations (Resolutions 519, 520, and 521) include:
- Treating Crypto as Foreign Exchange (FX): Certain virtual asset activities, such as stablecoin transactions, international crypto payments, and specific self-custody wallet transfers (where ownership is verified), are now classified as foreign-exchange operations or international capital market operations.
- New Regulatory Entity: The BCB has created a new category of regulated virtual-asset service providers called Sociedades Prestadoras de Serviços de Ativos Virtuais (SPSAVs).
- Licensing and Operations: Resolution 520 outlines the operational standards, which include requirements for client protection, transparency, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF), governance, security, and reporting for services like custody, brokering, and intermediary operations. Resolution 519 covers the authorization and transition process for existing providers to become licensed SPSAVs.
- Goal: The rules aim to integrate virtual assets into Brazil's formal, regulated financial ecosystem, enhancing consumer protection, transparency, and legal certainty, while mitigating risks like money laundering and preventing regulatory arbitrage.
- Effective Dates: The new regulations will take effect in February 2026, with mandatory reporting for capital-market and cross-border transactions starting in May 2026.
In essence, the BCB is extending its existing consumer protection, transparency, AML, and FX compliance requirements to cover crypto brokers, custodians, and intermediaries.
November 2025, Cryptoniteuae