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Brazilian Senate Plenary Approves Bill Regulating Crypto Transactions

The bill will be voted on by the Chamber of Deputies and, if approved, can be vetoed by the executive branch.

Brazil's flag (Mateus Campos Felipe/Unsplash)
Brazil's flag (Mateus Campos Felipe/Unsplash)

This article is adapted from CoinDesk Brasil, a partnership between CoinDesk and InfoMoney, one of Brazil's leading financial news publications. Follow CoinDesk Brasil on Twitter.

The Brazilian Senate plenary approved a bill regulating crypto transactions Tuesday night.

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The bill, introduced by Senator Flávio Arns, moves next to the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, which will vote on the bill. If approved, the executive branch then has the power to veto it.

The text creates the label "virtual service providers" for crypto companies, which will be subject to the same responsibilities as other financial institutions for crimes against the Brazilian financial system.

If approved, the bill will prevent the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission from overseeing the crypto market, except for initial coin offerings (ICO). In addition, the bill said the Brazilian executive branch will designate an agency to supervise the crypto sector.

The Brazilian Senate's economic affairs committee had approved Arns’ bill in February, shelving two other crypto bills presented by senators Styvenson Valentim and Soraya Thronicke.

The bill also designates crime carried out by virtual assets as punishable by a penalty of between two and six years in prison. The original text proposed a penalty of between four and eight years but it was reduced after a request made by Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco.

This article was translated by Andrés Engler and edited by CoinDesk. The original Portuguese can be found here.

Paulo Alves

Paulo Alves is a crypto editor at InfoMoney, a leading financial news publication in Brazil. His work has been featured in CNN Brazil, TechTudo and BeInCrypto Brazil, among other media. He graduated in Journalism from University of Amazon and holds a Digital Communications degree from University of São Paulo.

Paulo Alves
Andrés Engler

Andrés Engler is a CoinDesk editor based in Argentina, where he covers the Latin American crypto ecosystem. He follows the regional scene of startups, funds and corporations. His work has been featured in La Nación newspaper and Monocle magazine, among other media. He graduated from the Catholic University of Argentina. He holds BTC.

Andrés Engler