Report loosens control over cryptocurrency investments

The bill that aims to impose rules on the crypto-assets market risks being hollowed out if the version presented by the rapporteur, Deputy Expedito Netto (PSD-RO), is approved by the Chamber in the coming days.

The parliamentarian removed two pillars of the project defended by the Central Bank and which had been approved by the Senate in an attempt to stop the use of cryptocurrencies for money laundering and fraud, mainly through currencies such as bitcoin and ethereum.

THE Sheet had access to the draft of the bill corrected by the Deputy Chief of Government Analysis, of the Civil House, and to the deputy’s report presented on Tuesday (21) to the leaders.

Both versions are similar. The congressman, however, did not respond to questions in the report.

As it has not yet been presented to the House for distribution before the vote, the draft bill may still undergo changes.

The first modification refers to the easing of the separation requirement between the broker’s assets and the clients’ applications. This type of rule is common in the financial market, and aims to ensure that, in cases of company bankruptcy, it is possible to transfer the funds invested by clients to another similar brokerage firm or return them to the investor.

For some cryptocurrency companies, however, the Senate-passed rule treated digital assets as a financial resource, which they viewed as incorrect because, on this trading platform, the asset is not on the exchange. It only serves as a buying and selling platform. The securities (protected codes) stay with the traders.

Other companies, such as the Brazilian Mercado Bitcoin, have positioned themselves in favor of this clause. The giant Binance, the world’s largest broker and which concentrates more than half of the Brazilian market, asked for changes to the rule, considered too broad.

For her, it would not be possible to consider digital assets as resources to be segregated, since they are not in the company’s cash. It would be different from the operation of a traditional brokerage, which effectively handles clients’ money. Even so, she did not object, according to reports from lawmakers.

In the end, the rapporteur of the bill chose to discard the obligation to segregate digital assets. Despite this, according to companies consulted anonymously, the final text can still bring surprises.

In addition, the deputy decided to release companies from reporting all types of transactions above R$10,000 to the Coaf (Council for the Control of Financial Activities), a requirement made in the Senate for this sector to operate with the same rules as the traditional financial market.

In this case, companies would continue with the obligation defined by the Federal Revenue Service to inform only operations above R$ 35 thousand.

Both measures were the most awaited by the BC, according to people participating in the discussions.

In addition, the deputy accepted the request of giants in the sector so that, once approved, the new law will only come into force after six months. The version approved by the Senate provided for immediate application.

Smaller companies say that deadline will give companies even more time, some involved in police investigations, to continue operating without rules.

There was a setback in expectations at the Central Bank. The idea was to have strict legislation to criminalize the practice of scams and fraud involving crypto assets.

The BC started listening to companies, such as foreign giants Binance, Coinbase, Bitso, and the Brazilian Mercado Bitcoin, a few months ago, already counting on the guidelines of the law – previously negotiated with the two houses – to be maintained.

Together, the resources moved in the country by these crypto exchanges already represent more than “half a stock exchange”, around R$300 billion, according to BC data from December last year.

During this period, variable income operations carried out at B3 (shares, funds, BDRs and ETFs) totaled around R$ 600 billion, according to data from Anbima (Brazilian Association of Financial and Capital Market Entities) gathered by the BC.

The amount moved by digital applications already represents 27% of the resources currently deposited in the savings account.

The exponential growth of this market in the last three years, without any type of regulation and control, raised the fear of the BC and the Internal Revenue Service for foreign exchange evasion and money laundering.

In July 2021, for example, the Federal Police launched Operation Daemon, which targeted Cláudio José de Oliveira. He would have diverted R$ 1.5 billion from 7,000 customers, according to data from Coaf and the PF.

A month later, the Kryptos operation advanced on the financial pyramid fraud scheme led by businessman Glaidson Acácio dos Santos, known as the “bitcoin pharaoh” and which has accumulated more than 67,000 customers in almost five years of operation.