#174: Coinbase ❤️ ABCripto
Plus: Pix surveillance rule is walked back; Nubank to offer USDC yield
Olá pessoal!
Greetings from Davos, Switzerland, where $TRUMP coin is the talk of the town
Our friends at Mercado Bitcoin got in on the act early and were became the first Brazilian platform to list the former and incoming US president’s controversial coin.
One exciting development from Davos this week is that there’s a Brazil House sponsored by BTG Pactual, Ambipar and others. I’ll be checking this place out over the course of the week and will be hosting a panel on crypto adoption on Thursday, so be sure to stop by if you’ll be around.
🔎 What’s in this week’s BCR?
Central Bank could take up to 3 years to issue crypto licenses
Pix surveillance rule is withdrawn amid backlash
Coinbase joins ABCripto, partners with Liberta Investimentos
Brazil data protection regulators investigate Sam Altman’s World
Nubank to offer 4% yield on USDC
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
- AWS
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🎙New Podcast!
For this week’s podcast I talk to Vega Crypto founder and Ethereum Brasil CEO Antonio Neto. Many of you know that up until November 2022, Antonio was Head of Brazil and Latin America for the now-defunct cryptocurrency platform FTX.
In this conversation, Antonio shares for the first time publicly about his experience working for the now-infamous exchange, and what it was like from the inside seeing it collapse and file for bankruptcy within a week’s time.
Be sure to catch Part 2 of this conversation next week.
🎧 You can find Brazil Crypto Report content wherever you listen to podcasts: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon | Anchor | YouTube
Central Bank could take up to 3 years to issue crypto licenses
Brazil’s Central Bank said this week that the process of issuing licenses for crypto companies in the country could take up to three years.
Carolina Bohrer, head of the unit of the Department of Regulation, Supervision and Control of Operations at the bank, made the comments during an event.
One of the reasons for this is that the bank will likely not receive new employees via public tender, despite the significant workload this licensing process brings.
She said it would not be a surprise if the bank received applications from up to 100 different companies for such an operating license, though she emphasized that figure is a “rough guess”.
The Central is expected to release its final regulations and open the application window sometime in the middle of this year.
Pix surveillance rule is withdrawn amid backlash
Brazil’s government decided to walk back a new rule that would give the Receita Federal expanded surveillance over Pix transactions. The decision comes in light of a massive social media backlash against the proposal.
The rule — which came into effect on January 1 — required banks, credit card operators and payment institutions to report the transaction activity of individuals who moved more than R$5,000 per month (R$15,000 for business entities) via Pix.
An intense backlash on social media ensued amid fears that working class and informal economy workers would be adversely impacted. Federal Deputy Nikolas Ferreira posted a video to Instagram that went viral with more than 200 million views and 8 million likes
Usage of Pix also dropped significantly once the rule was announced. For the period of January 4-10, the total value of Pix transactions was down 11% year-over-year — the largest recorded drop since the system was introduced in 2020.
Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said that the government will issue a provisional measure to ensure that Pix transfers are not taxed and to ensure users’ banking secrecy.
The Receita Federal insisted that the Pix monitoring rule did not violate the privacy rights of financial transactions. Robinson Barreiras, secretary of the agency, said:
“The Federal Revenue Service has no interest in knowing the details of transactions, how many PIX you received and who transferred money to you or where you spent it,”
CoinTelegraph Brasil Livecoins Folha de S. Paulo
Coinbase joins ABCripto, partners with Liberta Investimentos
Coinbase has joined ABCripto, Brazil’s leading crypto trade association and lobby group.
The move reflects the company’s commitment to collaboration in the Brazilian market, explained Fabio Plein — Coinbase’s managing director for the Americas:
“Joining ABcripto reinforces our commitment to advancing the cryptoeconomy in Brazil, one of Coinbase's priority markets worldwide. It is the country where we experienced significant growth in 2024, having been one of the most downloaded cryptocurrency apps by Brazilians in the year.”
ABCripto now has more than 40 members from both traditional finance and crypto markets. CEO Bernardo Srur said in a statement:
“The company's expertise and commitment to promoting a safer and more accessible cryptoeconomy reinforce our mission of fostering a regulated and transparent environment, benefiting investors, companies and the ecosystem as a whole.”
The exchange also announced a partnership with Liberta Investimentos in a move targeting high-income investors. Eduardo Bugs, CEO of Liberta, said in a statement:
"Security is our customers' main concern when it comes to crypto assets. Choosing Coinbase as a partner reflects our commitment to offering robust and regulated solutions, always prioritizing the protection of investors' assets."
Liberta also has a partnership with libertarian economist financial influencer Fernando Ulrich. As part of the deal, Ulrich and other Liberta investment partners like Alexandre Stormer will serve as Coinbase ambassadors.
BeinCrypto Livecoins Valor CoinTelegraph Brasil
Brazil data protection regulators investigate Sam Altman’s World
ANPD, Brazil’s national data protection authority, has been formally investigating Sam Altman’s World project since November 11 with regard to its usage of biometric data (irises, in this case) for use in its decentralized identity protocol.
The agency explained:
"Biometric personal data, such as palm prints, finger prints, retina or iris, facial shape, voice and gait constitute sensitive personal data. Due to the higher risks that the processing of this type of personal data may pose, the legislator has granted them a more rigorous protection regime, limiting the legal hypotheses that authorize their processing.”
According to the agency, World has provided “all the information and documents" required and that “the documents are being analyzed by the Inspection Coordination team. There is no set deadline for completing the analysis".
Specifically, the authority is investigating Tools for Humanity, the company behind the project
Recall that users verify their identities by scanning their eyeballs with a glass orb in exchange for Worldcoin tokens.
But because Brazil’s data protection law considers facial and iris data to be sensitive, stewarding this requires greater rigor in collection, usage and protection.
The World Foundation said in a statement:
“It is not uncommon for innovative ideas and new technologies to raise questions. The World Foundation believes it is important for regulators to seek information or clarification on their concerns.”
More than 400,000 Brazilians have already registered their identity with World.
BeinCrypto Valor Exame Exame CoinTelegraph Brasil
Nubank to offer 4% yield on USDC
The digital bank will launch a new product to provide yield to users holding at least US$10 in USDC stablecoins.
The program will provide 4% yield annually on the USDC held in customer accounts.
Nubank highlighted that in 2024 the amount of USDC held by customers increased tenfold, and 30% customers currently hold the stablecoin in their wallets:
“More than 50% of new Nubank Cripto users chose USDC as their first digital asset.”
Valor Portal do Bitcoin CoinTelegraph Brasil
Drex tech solutions meet privacy requirements, but fall short elsewhere
The privacy solutions tested during the Drex pilot are meeting privacy requirements but falling short with regards to programmability, Clarissa Souza, technology leader for the Drex initiative at the Central Bank, said during a recent presentation.
“It is important for us to make it clear that I am very satisfied with the results of the first phase. There was a lot of work, very complete and very in-depth that we do not see elsewhere.”
Souza explained that there is “a very big challenge in trying to use a platform that is based on transparency (Hyperledger Besu) and say: it is transparency up to a limit. It is very difficult. It was not born to be this way.”
The various solutions being tested include Parfin’s Rayls, Anonymous Zether, Starlight from EY and Microsoft Nova.
🗞Brazil Crypto News Rundown
📈 Markets
The uncertain fiscal situation in Brazil will likely create a sea of opportunities for crypto in the country. The main drivers are increasing interest rates and an expectation that the Lula government will fail to fulfill its commitment to save R$30 billion (US$5 billion) by reassessing social benefits. (BeinCrypto)
7 of the 10 most profitable ETFs on the Brazilian stock exchange in 2024 were linked to digital assets. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Brazilian retailers lost R$103 billion (US$16.9 billion) in redirected revenue in 2024 due to online betting platforms, according to a survey released by the National Confederation of Commerce Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC). The study, called “Panorama of Bets” took into account the R$240 billion spent by Brazilians on online betting last year. The study also estimates that 1.8 Brazilians defaulted on payments or other obligations due to betting. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Mercado Bitcoin intends to expand its portfolio of tokenized private equity investment offerings in 2025. CEO Reinaldo Rabelo told Exame:
“We want to create a more efficient and accessible market that connects investors and entrepreneurs in a simple and secure way. The challenge now is to scale this operation and educate the ecosystem about the advantages of this model. We are just at the beginning of a transformation that will impact the capital market in Brazil.”
Livecoins has updated its MercadoCripto data tool with an exchange reliability option
A study by Statista estimates that the number of cryptocurrency investors in Brazil will grow by 969% in 2025. It estimates that ~32 million Brazilians will enter the industry this year. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
📲 Adoption
Brazil’s B3 exchange has taken a significant step to modernizing its central equity depository by using artificial intelligence and blockchain. (BeinCrypto)
Brazilian crypto players and analysts are optimistic about the impacts of a Donald Trump presidency on crypto markets. (BeinCrypto)
7.8 percent of worldwide internet searches for bitcoin in 2024 came from Brazil, according to CoinGecko. The only two countries that registered higher were the US (18.2%) and Germany (6.7%). (BeinCrypto) (CriptoFacil) (Livecoins)
Brazilian Electronic Commerce Association (ABComm) expects that Drex will enable faster, safer and more accessible e-commerce transactions, especially among middle class consumers. (BeinCrypto)
🏛 Policy, Regulation and Enforcement
The CVM issued a warning against Ukuchuma Financial Services LTD and IGM Forex LTD for offering cryptocurrency and other securities offerings to Brazilians. (BeinCrypto) (CriptoFacil) (Livecoins) (Portal do Bitcoin)
Crypto companies seeking to be licensed by the Central Bank will need to be audited, but many of the major audit companies in Brazil are not prepared to service the crypto market. (BlockNews)
Portal do Bitcoin profiles Marcelo Prata, the leader of Unick Forex pyramid scheme
The Receita Federal will auction off several seized or abandoned Ledger wallets and other goods on January 30. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Brazil’s government said that Meta’s new content moderation policy changes do align with local laws. The AGU, Brazil’s solicitor general, said
"AGU and other ministries understand that the current terms of use, as well as the changes now informed by Meta, do not fit with Brazil's legislation and are not sufficient to protect fundamental rights.” (Reuters)
Alleged crypto pyramid scheme BeeFund announced its return for January 30 and a luxury car raffle if it reaches 5,000 active customers on the platform. (Portal do Bitcoin)