#191: Meliuz becomes Brazil's version of MicroStrategy
Plus: Mercado Livre buys more bitcoin; bitcoin futures trade R$2 trillion in first year
Olá pessoal!
Welcome back to Brazil Crypto Report for the week of May 12-16, 2025.
The big news of this week that Meliuz shareholders formally approved a proposal to formally transition the entity into a Bitcoin Treasury Company, along the lines of MicroStrategy in the US, MetaPlanet in Japan and a bunch of other companies around the world that are jumping on this trend.
I’ll have an interview with Meliuz chairman Israel Salmen and Head of Bitcoin Strategy Diego Kolling coming out in a couple of weeks, so please keep an eye out for that.
🚨BCR hosted our first X Space last Friday exploring the restrictive stablecoin rules being proposed by the Brazil’s Central Bank. This was a great conversation featuring several of the main players from the stablecoin and payments space in Brazil, with the likes of Binance, OKX, BRLA Digital and Solana Foundation participating. Big thanks to everyone who participated and tuned in!
💣Also, friendly reminder to jump into the new BCR Telegram group if you haven’t yet done so!
🔎 What’s in BCR this week?
Mercado Livre increases bitcoin purchases
Bitcoin futures trade R$2 trillion in first year on B3
Crypto exchanges propose reporting regime over stablecoin self-custody ban
Meliuz officially becomes a “Bitcoin Treasury Company”
Foxbit receives crowdfunding license from CVM
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
- AWS
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🎙New Podcast!
No new podcast this week, but I’m highlighting two panels that I moderated at Web Summit Rio last month.
The first explores the intersection of AI and fintech with PicPay co-founder Anderson Chamon, NG.Cash CEO Mario Augusto Sa, Aline Oliveira of Traive and Ann Williams of Creditas
The second looks at how fintech in Latin America continues to push forward to despite a global decline in investment in the sector. I talk to Gerry Giacomán Colyer, Co-founder & CEO of Clara.com and Myriam Cosío, Chief External Affairs Officer at Clip. Enjoy!
🎧 You can find Brazil Crypto Report content wherever you listen to podcasts: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Amazon | Anchor | YouTube
Mercado Livre increases bitcoin purchases
The NASDAQ listed company increased its bitcoin holdings by 38% to US$59 million during the first quarter of 2025, purchasing 157.7 units — per earnings reports filed with the US SEC.
The Uruguay-headquartered company currently holds 570.4 bitcoins. It made its first purchases of the asset in 2021, when it became the first company in Latam to do so. It also began offering bitcoin purchases to customers through its Mercado Pago digital wallet app.
The company did not add to its Ethereum stockpile, which continues to hold 3,050 ETH.
Portal do Bitcoin Livecoins Exame CoinTelegraph Brasil Money Times
Bitcoin futures trade R$2 trillion in first year on B3
Bitcoin futures contracts on the B3 exchange logged R$2 trillion (US$353 billion) in trading volume since launching in April of last year.
The product is now the exchange’s fifth most-traded in terms of number of contracts exchanged and sixth largest in terms of volume.
Data from Neoway shows that 41 million bitcoin futures contracts were traded between April 2024 and April of this year. Foreign investors accounted for 53% of this total, while individual investors made up 39% and investment funds made up 7%.
Felipe Gonçalves, product superintendent at B3, said there is a strong trend of investors who already trade other derivatives using bitcoin as a way to diversify and arbitrage:
“The main lesson learned was that there is demand from both individual and institutional investors for a product that offers exposure to bitcoin with the security, transparency and operational robustness of the B3 environment.”
Valor Portal do Bitcoin CoinTelegraph Brasil Money Times BeinCrypto
Crypto exchanges propose reporting regime over stablecoin self-custody ban
Industry representatives are proposing an improved reporting system as an alternative to the Central Bank’s proposed ban on stablecoin transfers from exchanges to self-custodied wallets.
During an X Space hosted by Brazil Crypto Report, Thiago Sarandy — Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs at Binance, argued that exchanges should be able to report suspicious withdrawals to authorities.
The authorities, such as the Financial Activities Control Council (COAF), could then investigate the destination of the transfer via a partnership with a blockchain analytics company like Chainalysis.
This type of partnership would mitigate the bank’s concerns over stablecoins being used for tax evasion and money laundering.
“The Central Bank should completely remove this prohibition and put some type of reporting in place to be able to track the transaction.”
Sarandy added that the proposed ban will have the effect of forcing users and transactions outside of the purview of the Central Bank — which is the opposite of their intended objective with this rule.
In a post on Linkedin, he summarized
“Three principles must be safeguarded: (i) the right to self-custody; (ii) the enablement of cross-border payments using stablecoins; and, (iii) and the clear permission for global order books, which should not be included in the FX market.”
Cesar Carvalho, partner at Baptista Luz Advogados argued that the self-custody ban violates basic constitutional principles:
“We showed the Central Bank, and they were very receptive to listening, that a total ban like this is disproportionate and very excessive. Self-custody and the principles behind it incorporate constitutional rights, such as the right to property. They are constitutive principles of our democracy.”
Guilherme Sacamone, country director for OKX Brasil, said that the proposed rules are akin to “building a wall in the ocean” and will ultimately make Brazil less attractive as a destination for international players looking to enter the market:
“You only affect those who are trying to work in accordance with the rules.”
Meliuz officially becomes a “Bitcoin Treasury Company”
Meliuz’s shareholders formally approved the transformation of the company into Brazil’s first “bitcoin treasury company”, meaning that it will be the first entity trading on Brazil’s B3 exchange to hold bitcoin as its main reserve asset.
Israel Salmen, chairman of the company, called the moment a “historic day” after the proposal was approved by a “large majority” of shareholders.
Following the approval, the company announced that it had acquired an additional US$28.4 million worth of bitcoin. Meliuz now holds 320 units of the cryptocurrency with an average price of US$101,703.
Salmen was adamant that his strategy, which is basically the same as MicroStrategy’s, isn’t concerned with short-term price fluctuations:
"We don't have a target price. The focus is on the long term. We bought to have and carry, and then the price ends up being a detail."
Shareholders who disagree with the bitcoin treasury strategy are entitled to a refund of R$3.928 per share.
Meliuz shares have appreciated by 175% since the bitcoin treasury strategy was first proposed on April 15.
Salmen told Exame that he hopes Meliuz’s actions will generate a wave of institutional adoption among Brazilian companies using bitcoin as a reserve asset.
Exame Decrypt Livecoins CriptoFacil CoinTelegraph Brasil Money Times
Foxbit receives crowdfunding license from CVM
Crypto platform Foxbit received authorization from Brazil’s securities regulator to crowdfund investments. This enables it to offer digital securities via tokenization.
Currently, crowdfunding is regulated by the CVM’s Instruction 88 — which allows companies to publicly fundraise directly with investors using tokens representing debt, equity or other financial rights.
Ricardo Dantas, Foxbit CEO, said:
“This license is confirmation that we are on the right track. We want to transform the Foxbit Group into a major hub for companies and investors who believe in the potential of digital assets, with security, technology and regulatory compliance.”
He explained that this license enables Foxbit to create a true token marketplace, something unprecedented in the Brazilian market until now.
“Unlike players that do not yet operate under this regulatory scope, Foxbit now offers a legally approved infrastructure to enable investments in tokenized assets, ensuring legal security, transparency and regulatory compliance for issuers and investors.”
Crypto Times BeinCrypto CoinTelegraph Brasil
🗞Brazil Crypto News Rundown
📈 Markets
Catálise, which manages credit rights investment funds (FDIC in Portuguese), has opened up a fund of R$100 million (US$17.7 million) in tokenized assets — focusing on tokenized debentures from retail and industrial sectors. The assets were tokenized in partnership with AmFi. Paulo David, co-founder and CEO of AmFi, said in a statement:
"The AmFi platform manages the entire operation of Catálise's FIDC. We combine unique technology for credit operations with Catálise's experience in structuring and managing funds.” (Valor) (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin can be among the world’s five largest stablecoins, Silvio Pegado — the company’s director for Latam, argued. The recently launched token has a current market cap of US$317 million, making it the 21st-largest in circulation. The secret sauce to increasing adoption, he said, is Ripple’s recent acquisition of brokerage Hidden Road.
“Hidden Road lends money for financial operations, offering liquidity. Now, it can use RLUSD as collateral. RLUSD, which is growing, becomes collateral and expands its operations. These are commercial synergies.”
“We understand that the stablecoin universe is worth trillions. We want to be among the five largest.” (Valor)
Brazilian crypto asset manager QR Asset raised concerns about Ethereum’s recent Pectra upgrade, arguing that it aligns Ethereum with product and service ideas that abandon the network’s original cypherpunk ethos. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Mercado Bitcoin says that it has moved more than R$1 billion in RWA tokens linked to startup fundraising via MB Startups.
The future of crypto startup financing lies in tokenization rather than traditional venture investing models, argues Tupix Capital partner Guilherme Matarazzo. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Warren Buffett announced that he has sold all of his Nubank shares, profiting US$250 million from the trade. (CriptoFacil) (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
BEE4, the blockchain based platform for trading shares of SME companies, intends to begin offering fixed income products. (Seu Dinheiro)
Netspaces and CF Innovacao announced the formation of a joint venture to launch what appears to be the world’s first tokenized real estate exchange. The product is expected to go live during the Blockchain Real Estate Summit in Sao Paulo on June 6. Tony Volpon, partner at CF Innovacao and former Central Bank director, told Bloomberg Linea:
“Once consolidated, the platform will function as a public blockchain that will be the largest tokenized real estate market in the world, where brokers, developers and the public will be able to follow the available offers.”
Brazil-based crypto asset manager Hashdex thinks crypto index products are the next biggest opportunity in the US. CIO Samir Kerbage thinks the SEC will allow US products to hold assets beyond just BTC and ETH before they approve additional single asset ETFs.
“But this is the big question,” he noted. “If they’re not comfortable with having one specific single asset as an ETP, they still might allow an index to have a small allocation to that specific asset.” (Blockworks)
📲 Adoption
Coritiba Token investors received R$1.5 million in payouts related to the transfer of eight players trained by the club under FIFA’s Solidarity Mechanism. The Solidarity Mechanism determines that 5% of each international transfer of an athlete be distributed to the clubs that developed the player. (InfoMoney)
Mercado Bitcoin’s Digital Asset Conference Brazil 2025 will take place September 22-23 in Sao Paulo.
Token Nation, formerly NFT Brasil, will take place June 4-5 in Sao Paulo.
28% of Brazilian crypto investors have more than half of their investment portfolio dedicated to crypto, according to a survey from Bitget. The report also identified Brazil as having a more mature investment culture than neighboring countries, and that more than half of Brazilian crypto users are over the age of 45. Guilherme Prado, country manager for Bitget in Brazil, said:
“The data shows that Brazilian investors are bolder, seek significant returns and are willing to take greater risks to do so. This behavior is a reflection of both the country's high digital banking and the growing familiarity with the crypto universe.”
The University of Sao Paulo is developing a new AI platform to help neurodivergent people with autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
4 million Brazilians still confuse cryptocurrencies with gambling, according to Anbima’s “X-Ray of the Brazilian Investor'“ survey. (CoinTelegraph Brasil) (Livecoins)
Brazil’s government created a working group to coordinate the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan, which was launched last July and foresees investments of R$23 billion by 2028.
🏛 Policy, Regulation and Enforcement
Unick Forex, a financial pyramid involving crypto and forex trading, appears to have been rebirthed using the name Unick 2.0. It promises to return 3-7% per day. (Portal do Bitcoin) (Livecoins)