#162: Crypto transaction volumes up 24% in 2024
Plus: Ripple to make Sao Paulo its Latam Hub, bitcoin price in BRL hits new ATH
Olá pessoal!
Welcome back to 🇧🇷Brazil Crypto Report for the week of October 14-18. 2024.
After looking grim for a bit, it seems like we might have an “Uptober” this year after all. It’s going to be a wild couple weeks ahead of the US presidential elections, so be sure to buckle in as a Trump victory figures to be a nice bump for markets across the board.
Polymarket seems bullish; we shall see.
🔎 What’s in this week’s BCR?
Bitcoin price hits new ATH against BRL
Ripple is ramping up its presence in Brazil and Latam
Galipolo discusses Drex, Central Bank priorities
Campos Neto says Central Bank will regulate stablecoins and asset tokenization in 2025
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
-AWS
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🎙New podcast!
This week’s interview is with Juliana Felippe, who recently joined Transfero as Chief Revenue Officer. We talk about how Transfero began as a bootstrapped startup in 2015 and has become a critical piece of blockchain payments and trading infrastructure in Brazil. We then explore how Transfero is setting its sights on global expansion and raising its first investment round.
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Receita Federal: Crypto transactions up 24% in 2024
Brazilians reported R$247.8 billion (US$43 billion) worth of cryptocurrency transactions from January to September of this year, up 24% from the same period the prior year.
USDT trading comprised R$153.7 billion (US$27 billion) during the first nine months of the year, equivalent to 62% of the total amount transacted.
The month of August alone saw R$27.2 billion (US$4.8 billion) transacted by Brazilian users. R$16.4 billion (US$2.9 billion) of this total was USDT, dwarfing the volumes of bitcoin (R$5.2 billion / US$900 million), ether (R$1.2 billion/US$200 million) and USDC (R$1.1 billion/US$190 million)
The information comes from the Receita Federal, Brazil’s tax authority. Most of the declarations come from cryptocurrency exchanges (R$17.9 billion), while R$9.2 billion in transactions didn’t involve exchanges or were brokered via overseas platforms.
You can find the full 143 page Receita Federal report here. Happy reading!
Valor BeinCrypto CoinTelegraph Brasil
Ripple wants to make São Paulo its Latam hub
The Brazil market was spotlighted at Ripple’s annual Swell conference in Miami, with Roberto Dagnoni of 2TM/Mercado Bitcoin and Andre Portilho of BTG Pactual onstage discussing market developments.
In interviews with Brazilian press, CEO Brad Garlinghouse and president Monica Long praised the development of the Brazil market and contrasted it with ongoing problems in the US. Garlinghouse said:
“Brazil is one of the fastest growing markets in the adoption of cryptoassets and blockchain. The Central Bank of Brazil has been very constructive in relation to regulation and this creates opportunities.”
“Brazil will continue to be an important focus for Ripple, especially given its more progressive regulatory environment and the growing opportunities in the cryptocurrency market.
Garlinghouse also discussed his intention to turn Ripple’s Sao Paulo office into a hub for Latin America, where it is exploring tokenization and cross-border payments use cases:
“I see an opportunity in exploring blockchain for the tokenization of real assets. I say this in the US, Brazil, Europe, and anywhere. It is an opportunity to reach new investments.”
He told CoinTelegraph Brasil that one of the reasons they chose to host Swell in Miami was to strengthen Ripple’s presence in Latin America.
At the event, Ripple also announced the impending launch of its RLUSD stablecoin, which it will deploy in partnership with partners including Bitso, MoonPay, Uphold, Bullish and others.
Speaking on a panel about blockchain adoption in Latam, Portilho of BTG highlighted the U-turn that banks in the region have made in recent years towards the technology:
“Banks in Brazil saw crypto as a threat and even closed exchange accounts. This changed with the vision that tokenization could be a new form of use for banks. There is an understanding that this is an infrastructure, technology and a new area of operation. It is crucial that these institutions engage with crypto to bring mass adoption.”
Dagnoni, chairman of 2TM and Mercado Bitcoin, discussed how MB is using Ripple technology for transfers between its entities in Brazil and Portugal, and eventually its B2B and B2C clients.
“This will greatly simplify the journey of those who need to make remittances and exchange money. Before, our offering was very limited to Portugal – which is where we have the brokerage –, but our clients want to send money to several places. Now this will be possible.”
Valor CoinDesk CoinTelegraph Brasil Portal do Bitcoin Exame
Galipolo discusses Drex, Central Bank priorities
Gabriel Galipolo, incoming president of the Central Bank of Brazil, spoke publicly about his priorities for his term at an event organized by Itau. In his remarks, he praised the bank’s financial innovation accomplishments and argued that the Drex CBDC/tokenization project can have a positive impact on facilitating credit in the country:
"The Drex idea itself can allow us to move forward and produce a revolution, as a digital public infrastructure, for collateralized credit. I think this will allow for a reduction in spreads.”
He noted that reducing the cost of credit will be one of the main priorities for the bank under his administration:
"Sometimes we spend a lot of time debating the Selic rate, and perhaps the main topic is what interest rate legal entities or individuals are actually paying. [...] This is a long-standing agenda of the Central Bank. It is not easy to reduce spreads and reduce costs."
Campos Neto: BC to regulate stablecoins and asset tokenization in 2025
The Central Bank of Brazil is planning to regulate stablecoins and asset tokenization in the coming year, outgoing president Roberto Campos Neto said during a presentation at a virtual event last week.
He also added that the bank expects to release its second public consultation on crypto asset regulation later this month. It will include draft resolutions dealing with the “conduct, organization and authorization process” of VASPs.
Campos Neto also reaffirmed his bullish sentiment toward the technology
“By their nature, virtual assets have the potential to generate enormous efficiency gains in payment and credit services and promote the expansion of the capital market.”
Valor Portal do Bitcoin CoinTelegraph Brasil BeinCrypto
Bitcoin price hits new ATH against BRL
The price of bitcoin on select Brazilian exchanges hit R392,500, making it the highest BRL denominated value to date and the closest the world’s largest cryptocurrency has come to hitting R$400,000, according to Livecoins.
🗞Brazil Crypto News Rundown
📈 Markets
Blockchain-based credit platform Credix has created a sales financing platform called CrediPay that can be integrated with payment systems of retailers, service providers and SMEs. (Valor)
Cryptocurrencies were the 9th most sought after investment class in Brazil during the month of September. (Valor Investe)
Exchange Bitget has made several key hires to focus on developing its presence in Brazil and Latin America, including Alejandro Blanco (formerly of OKX and Binance) and Gildardo Herrera (formerly of Binance and Bitso). (BeinCrypto)
BRX Finance launched a new platform called Fiat2Safe for converting reals into crypto assets with Pix and international transfers using account abstraction and GnosisSafe digital wallets. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Chiliz has partnered with Transfero to integrate the BRZ stablecoin into the Chiliz Chain ecosystem. Chiliz’s Brazil country manager Bruno Pessoa said in a statement:
“Brazil represents a key market for Chiliz, with its passionate sports culture and rapidly growing cryptocurrency adoption…“By integrating BRZ and partnering with Transfero, we are not only expanding our technological capabilities. We are opening new possibilities for millions of Brazilian fans to engage with their favorite teams through Fan Tokens.” (BlockNews) (BeinCrypto) (Portal do Bitcoin) (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
📲 Adoption
Worldcoin operations in Brazil should resume before the end of 2024, and has a entered into a partnership with Rappi to deliver orbs for iris scanning. Recall that Worldcoin entered the market last year but announced its exit a few weeks later. The project will also change its name to World Network. (Exame)
The University of Brasilia will offer a bitcoin technical course taught by professor Edil Medeiros, who is also an instructor with Vinteum. (BeinCrypto)
A study by TIC Saúde 2024 reports that 17% of Brazilian doctors are currently using artificial intelligence tools. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Banco do Brasil’s Digital Week event will take place October 29-31 in Brasilia, featuring talks about Drex, cryptocurrencies and tokenization. (Livecoins)
X/Twitter may be again blocked in Brazil due to a change in its terms of service that requires users to allow content to be used in AI training models. Ronaldo Lemos, a digital law specialist and founder of the Institute of Technology and Society in Rio de Janeiro said in an X post
"X has surreptitiously changed its terms to use all posts and content on the platform to train artificial intelligence. On November 15th, there will be no more opt-out. In other words, there is no way to oppose this training. For much less, the ANPD [National Data Protection Authority] suspended Meta's AI in Brazil." (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Infinity Base, a software house in Florianopolis, was a key player in launching the Fuel Ignition mainnet, a stage 2 optimistic rollup capable of enabling 21,000 transactions per second. Infinity Base CEO Joao Bolsoni told BlockNews:
“Fuel is the most advanced in the Ethereum network today and we are proof that Brazil, especially Florianópolis, is fertile ground for high technology…the quality of the product in the long term is more important than using the hype of the moment to make money with yet another passing project”. (BeinCrypto)
🏛 Policy, Regulation and Enforcement
Customers of crypto investment company Beefund are taking to Reclame Aqui saying they are unable to withdraw their funds. Beefund reportedly promised 12.75% daily returns to investors. (Livecoins)
A Florida man named Juan Tacuri was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the United States for his role in promoting a crypto pyramid scheme called Forcount, which was led by Brazil’s “Sheik of Crypto” Francisley Valdevino da Silva. (Portal do Bitcoin)
President Lula met with the presidents of five of Brazil’s main banks to discuss regulation of online betting platforms. Raising concerns over addiction and indebtedness, he also issued a threat to the platforms saying that he would move to ban them altogether if they do not abide by regulations:
“We will see if regulation is enough. If the regulation is able to handle it, the problem is solved. If it is not, I will finish it, that is very clear. Because you have no control over the most lowly people, over children with cell phones in their hands placing bets, we do not want that” (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
The Federal Public Ministry is also considering a total ban on betting platforms in Brazil, including entities that have earned approval from the Ministry of Finance to operate in the country, according to NeoFeed. An MPF source explained:
"Smartphones have become extensions of people's bodies. It has become too easy to bet and this is causing a lot of problems."
Romario, the senator and ex-footballer, is looking to summon a Central Bank official to explain how cryptocurrency usage in the betting industry will be monitored beginning in 2025. The request comes as part of a special parliamentary inquiry into the betting industry. (Livecoins)
Federal Police are investigating RR Consultoria, a R$220 million crypto investment business that went bankrupt in 2022 and left thousands of victims. (InfoMoney)
Civil Police in Santa Catarina blocked bitcoins in the wallets of suspects who allegedly robbed a city hall in the state. (Livecoins)