#183: Coinbase: stablecoin self-custody ban goes too far
Plus: Campos Neto reappears in Miami to talk Drex, stablecoins
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Olá pessoal!
Welcome back to 🇧🇷Brazil Crypto Report for the week of March 17-21, 2025.
Greetings from Buenos Aires where I’m getting for the Merge Buenos Aires event that starts on Tuesday. I’ll be moderating a couple of sessions on the main stage Tuesday morning and doing some video interviews the rest of the day. Looking forward to catching up with everyone onsite!
I’ll also be hosting a Happy Hour for crypto journalists, content creators and researchers on Tuesday evening from 6-9pm (shout out to Bitso Business, BRLA Digital and El Dorado for sponsoring!). We’ll be finalizing the guest list in a day or so, so if you’d like to attend please do sign up here.
Also my friend Rodolfo Andragnes (creator of LaBitConf) is organizing a fun Bitcoin Pizza Day experience in Rome on May 20-22. Definitely worth a checking out if you’re into that sort of thing
🔎 What’s in BCR this week?
Coinbase pushes back on stablecoin self-custody ban
Campos Neto reappears, talks Drex at XP event in Miami
AmFi looks to tokenize R$1.5 billion in 2025
Hashdex looks to add altcoins to its US ETF
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
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Coinbase pushes back on stablecoin self-custody ban
Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in US and one of the largest in the world, says that the Brazilian Central Bank’s proposal to prohibit transfers of stablecoins from VASPs to self-custodied wallets needs to be rethought.
The rule was proposed in public consultation 111, which seeks to regulate stablecoins in the same manner as foreign exchange.
Tom Duff Gordon, Coinbase’s Vice President of International Policy, said that while he understands the bank’s concerns around tax evasion on and money laundering, the proposed prohibition goes too far.
He told Valor:
“I think the Central Bank could reconsider this issue. Stablecoins will be fundamental to the development of the internet of the future and decentralized finance, and self-custodied wallets play an essential role in this ecosystem.”
Gordon added that Coinbase several alternative solutions in its response to the public consultation:
“In our response to the Central Bank's public consultation, we presented arguments on how this model can be implemented safely, addressing legitimate concerns about AML and KYC practices.”
Speaking to Exame, he said that he expects positive regulatory movements in the United States to spill over into other regions of the world like Brazil. This will hopefully be good for consistency in rules across jurisdictions:
"We hope to have general consistency in the rules, because it is a global market, these are assets that are not issued in countries, and the importance of consistency is that, with it, we can have equivalence, recognition, and then we can unite markets, have operational efficiency and have more liquidity for customers."
Campos Neto reappears, talks Drex at XP event in Miami
Former Central Bank president Roberto Campos Neto made his first public appearance since his term expired at the end of last year. He spoke at an XP Private Bank event in Miami.
During his remarks, he defended the growth of stablecoins as a means of accessing dollars in emerging markets, while arguing that the assets need to be regulated in a way that ensures the assets are backed properly and that they conform with relevant AML/KYC rules.
“Why did they grow so much? Because it is the cheapest way to open a dollar account.”
He also defended Drex, the hybrid tokenization/CBDC project that was supposed to be the capstone of the bank’s ambitious financial innovation agenda under his tenure.
The Drex project is in Phase 2 of its pilot, but has encountered some technical challenges — to which Campos Neto believes solutions will be found shortly:
“I believe that we will soon have a solution and this will represent a great advance for the programmability of money.”
AmFi looks to tokenize R$1.5 billion in 2025
The tokenization startup closed out 2024 with R$610 million (US$106 million) in total assets tokenized. It expects that number to hit R$1.5 billion (US$261 million) in the first half of 2025.
To achieve this, the company is launching a roadshow around Brazil to educate investors, securitization companies, fintechs and receivables managers how blockchain and tokenization reduces costs and increases access to capital markets.
AmFi CEO Paulo David told BlockNews:
“The receivables market is at a special moment, with the forecast of jumping from the current R$570 billion to R$1 trillion in two years, and we want to take advantage of this good moment. Therefore, we are looking for securitization companies, fintechs and receivables managers who generally have difficulty entering the traditional capital market and show how technology is changing this scenario.”
Recall that AmFi was the first fintech to receive authorization from the CVM, Brazil’s securities regulator, to offer digital fixed income products. The company now works with 70 partners
Hashdex looks to add altcoins to its US ETF
The Rio de Janeiro-based crypto asset manager is looking to add altcoins like XRP, LTC, ADA, SOL and others to its Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index ETF.
The fund currently offers exposure to just bitcoin and ether.
Hashdex filed an amendment with the US SEC last week petition to add the other coins to the product.
🗞Brazil Crypto News Rundown
📈 Markets
The CVM approved crowdfunding licences for tokenization companies PeerBR, Loopi Plataforma and TR Block. The three companies received support from a ABCripto program helping startups navigate the licensing process. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Bipa and Mastercard are launching a new credit card that allows users to earn cashback in bitcoin and use their cryptocurrencies as collateral — thereby expanding their credit limits. CEO Luiz Parreira said on an X post:
"With the Bipa card, every purchase turns into Satsback – our cashback in Bitcoin.” (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Tokeniza announced the launch of a new RWA tokenized debenture tied to a debt offering by Sergipe-based digital bank Girubank. Tokeniza expects a R$6 million raise via the offering, which will pay out 1.75% per month for 24 months. Tokeniza founder Arthur Coelho said in a statement:
“The offering is strategic for Tokeniza, as it validates its hybrid model by combining traditional investments with tokenization technology, in addition to expanding its portfolio and attracting new investors and issuers.” (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Cainvest announced a new structured note product for investing in bitcoin that protects against devaluation. The product protects 85% of invested capital against devaluation, while capturing 40% of the asset’s apprecation. CEO Charles Aboulafia said in a statement:
“We developed this solution to provide a balance between protection and return, allowing investors to take advantage of Bitcoin’s potential without excessive fears about price fluctuations.” (CoinTelegraph Brasil) (Livecoins)
Mercado Bitcoin and XDC Network are partnering to bring the exchange’s RWA token offerings to international markets. These products include tokenized fixed income securities and corporate debt instruments, structured investment products, revenue-sharing mechanisms, staking-based yield assets, etc. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
📲 Adoption
Crypto market participants need to demonstrate to regulators that crypto is “safe”, Santander Brasil’s Head of Digital Assets and Blockchain Evandro Vieira argued during a panel discussion at Fintech Summit 2025 in Sao Paulo:
“If we, who know the operation, are unable to present it to the regulator in a way that instills confidence, it was us who made the mistake…We have to show that we can prevent money laundering and detect customers. If we give the regulator this peace of mind, innovation will advance.” (Valor)
OKX and BlockTrends are partnering to expand crypto market education for Brazilian users. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Binance and Ribus are partnering to allow payments for vacation rentals on the Ribus platform using Binance Pay. (BeinCrypto)
Bitso Business is hosting a conference devoted to stablecoins in Latin America in Mexico City on August 27-28. (BeinCrypto)
Bybit users will have exclusive access to Tomorrowland, one of the largest music festivals in the world - which will take place October 10-12. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Binance and Blockchain Rio are partnering to do a university roadshow teaching students about blockchain technology. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Crypto.com and Times Brasil announced a partnership to educational content about crypto for the Brazilian market. The model will be similar to that of CNBC’s Crypto World in the US. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Bitget is sponsoring driver Flavio Sampaioin the Porsche Carrera Cup Brazil 2025. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
The popular event NFT Brasil is rebranding to TokenNation. Co-founder Marco Antonio Affonseca said the change is to “broaden the vision beyond NFTs”. He told BeinCrypto:
“Our goal is not only to bring companies and startups closer to the Web3 universe, but also to drive the regulation and growth of decentralized technologies in Brazil.”
🏛 Policy, Regulation and Enforcement
A bill introduced by Federal Deputy Adriana Ventura looks to allow Brazilian investment funds to acquire crypto assets from domestic companies. This change would mean that companies like Hashdex, QR Asset and BTG Pactual would not need to rely on international players like Binance or Coinbase to source digital asset purchases. She said in a statement:
“the authorization for the acquisition of these digital currencies aims to provide a regulated and safe environment so that these entities can expand the diversification of their investment portfolios.
“In this sense, allowing investment funds to include cryptocurrencies in their strategies aligns Brazil with the global trend of adopting these digital assets, recognizing their importance as a legitimate asset class and reinforcing the competitiveness of the national market compared to its international peers.” (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
A 25 year-old Colombian social media influencer was extradited to Brazil for allegedly drugging and robbing bitcoin investors in Rio de Janeiro. (CoinTelegraph Brasil) (Livecoins)
Receita Federal agents showcased on the Discovery Channel series “Aeroporto” discussed on a podcast how they inspect and seize physical bitcoin wallets being transported into or out of the country. (Livecoins)
The CVM issued a warning about Albi Corportation Ltd, which operates the bitcoin and forex trading platform Capivo. The agency said that the platform is engaging in securities brokerage without authorization. (BeinCrypto) (CoinTelegraph Brasil) (Livecoins)
The Receita Federal has been notifying taxpayers who engaged with cryptocurrencies in 2021 or earlier and asking them to explain certain financial transactions made using digital assets on a foreign crypto platform. (Portal do Bitcoin) (Livecoins)
Legislation introduced by Senator Soraya Thronicke would ensure greater transparency and security in the operations of VASPs and require mandatory segregation of issuance, intermediation and custody activities. (Livecoins)
A bill that would encourage usage of bitcoin as a method of payment in Belo Horizonte was approved by a city council committee. Councilmember Vile Santos said on X:
“Today, we took an important step by approving the bill that officially establishes Belo Horizonte as the Bitcoin Capital at the CLJ. This initiative not only puts our city in the spotlight on the national and international scene, but also opens doors to a series of opportunities.” (BeinCrypto) (CriptoFacil) (Livecoins)
Another interesting piece, Aaron. LATAM Crypto markets really have been developing fast. What do you say about the VC field there? Is there enough support for Startups? Always a pleasure reading.