#199: US targets Pix over "unfair practices"
Plus: Supreme Court upholds IOF tax increase; PicPay relaunches crypto product
Olá pessoal!
Welcome back to Brazil Crypto Report for the week of July 14-18, 2025.
Greetings from northern Minnesota where I’m wrapping up my summer holiday (in the northern hemisphere anyway). I was able to pay a visit to my hometown of Fergus Falls. It’s a nice little Scandinavian town of 15,000 people located 30 minutes from the border with North Dakota.
Below is a nice picture of the main downtown street. It was wiped out by a tornado in 1919 but still has a late 1800s and early 1900s feel to it.
There’s a lot going on right now in the Brazil-US relations world that I haven’t had the chance to fully read up on and process, so I’m going to abstain from trying to explain it in this newsletter. I do touch on the Pix component which has a direct impact on our industry. For next week I will have some more concrete thoughts here.
Before we dive into this week’s news, be sure to check out Blockchain Rio which is happening August 5-7 at ExpoMag in Rio de Janeiro. BCR is excited to be an ecosystem partner for this year’s event once again.
The conference has some big international names confirmed as speakers:
Bybit COO Mazurka Zeng
Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov
Bitpanda CEO Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad
Conduit CEO Kirill Gertman
This year’s event highlights that Brazil is continuing to grow as an important market in the global ecosystem, so be sure to be there if you can
Also, please jump into the BCR English language Telegram group if you’d like to continue the conversation
📰 Top Stories this Week
PicPay relaunches crypto product after a 12 month suspension
Brazil’s Supreme Court upholds controversial IOF tax increase
US targets Pix in unfair trade practices complaint
CVM president Nascimento steps down
Central Bank to release Drex Pilot Phase 2 results on July 31
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
- AWS
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🎙️New Podcasts!
This week’s podcast is with Tony Volpon, who is a former Brazilian Central Bank official and a 25 year veteran of the Brazilian banking system.
We discuss his journey down the bitcoin rabbit hole, his political and macro outlook on Brazil for the next several years, and a new real estate tokenization marketplace that he is building for Brazil in conjunction with Netspaces.
Tony brings a wealth of knowledge and perspective to the table, so I highly encourage you to have a watch/listen!
🙌 Friendly reminder that you can listen to BCR on your favorite podcast platform YouTube | Spotify | Apple Podcasts
PicPay relaunches crypto product after 12 month hiatus
Popular fintech app PicPay is resuming its crypto offering after suspending the service around this time last year.
The company said that the decision was due to regulatory advancements in the Brazilian market that has brought more operating certainty, along with requests from customers to bring the product back.
Anderson Chamon, co-founder and executive vice president of New Business at PicPay said in a statement:
"Since 2023, the market has evolved, regulation has advanced, and this is reflected in customer demand, who have remained engaged and have been asking for returns ever since. We're increasingly seeing crypto assets occupy a significant space in Brazilians' wallets and become part of their financial routines.”
The platform now offers 12 different cryptos for trading, as well as features like price alerts.
Portal do Bitcoin Valor Investe Exame
Supreme Court Upholds IOF Tax Hike
On July 16, Brazil’s Supreme Court issued an injunction upholding the IOF tax increases announced by the Lula administration in May.
Congress had previously voted to overturn the measure in June with a 383-98 vote. The Lula government challenged Congress’ vote to the Supreme Court, with Justice Alexandre de Moraes ultimately issuing a ruling that upholds most of the IOF tax hike.
This means that the tax on the purchase of foreign currencies will rise to 3.5%. This applies to international card purchases, currency purchases and remittances from abroad.
The controversial ruling “has brought regulatory volatility and its direct consequences for the real economy back into the spotlight,” Bitso Brasil CEO Barbara Espir argued in an op-ed for Exame.
As we’ve noted previously, this IOF tax controversy has driven significant mindshare to stablecoins as a potential, though imperfect workaround to triggering these new taxes.
US targets Pix in unfair trade practices complaint
The US Trade Representative launched a probe into Brazil’s Pix instant payments system alleging that it competes unfairly against American companies like Visa and Mastercard.
Under a provision known as Section 301, the USTR can authorize economic retaliation against foreign practices that are deemed unfair to US companies.
While Pix isn’t specifically singled out in the agency’s complaint, the implication is apparent:
“Brazil also appears to engage in a number of unfair practices with respect to electronic payment services, including but not limited to advantaging its government-developed electronic payment services.”
The complaint comes as part of a broader offensive against Brazil by the Trump Administration in regards to Brazil’s treatment of former president Jair Bolsonaro — which includes a threat to impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports.
On July 7, before the announcement, Brazil’s president Lula declared that the use of the US dollar is not necessary in trade relations between countries when the US is not specifically involved. Lula’s Workers’ Party also put out several statements promoting the de-dollarization narrative.
Finance Minister Fernando Haddad in an interview with Folha de S. Paulo:
"The United States should be copying Pix. Pix can be exported as a technology that will make people's lives much easier. You don't mind cryptocurrency, but you're going to worry about Pix?"
In an interview with BBC, former Central Bank president Henrique Meirelles suggested that the offensive by the US is a reaction to the efficiency of the Pix system.
CVM president Nascimento steps down
Joao Pedro Nascimento, president of the CVM - Brazil’s securities regulator - stepped down after three years on the job. He has been credited as a driving force behind the agency’s welcoming approach to innovative regulation on tokenization, crowdfunding and modernizing Brazil’s capital markets more generally.
In a Linkedin post, he stated:
"The time has come for me to say goodbye to the Presidency of the CVM after three years of intense, daily, and exclusive dedication to the Agency. I conclude this cycle with gratitude, pride, and full conviction that we fulfilled a public mission worthy of the Agency's history and responsibility. We worked technically, independently, and free from partisan political convictions."
It isn’t immediately clear what prompted his resignation.
Drex Pilot Phase 2 results to be released July 31
Brazil’s Central Bank will release the results for the second phase of the Drex pilot on July 31.
The report is expected to include results for use cases including tokenized real estate, trade finance and stablecoins. New information will also be presented about the privacy solutions currently being tested.
The bank is expected to also formally launch Phase 3 of the Drex project, which may involve public testing for the first time.
🗞Brazil Crypto News Rundown
📈 Markets
Bitcoin’s market cap eclipsed the GDP of Brazil, hitting US$2.3 trillion and surpassing Brazil’s 2024 output of US$2.18 trillion. (Portal do Bitcoin)
USDC is the second most popular crypto asset on the Nubank platform after bitcoin. Thomaz Fortes, executive director of Nubank’s digital assets division, said in a statement:
"This demand has always been growing, regardless of the volatility of other tokens – in fact, many experts even consider stablecoins to be a distinct market from other virtual assets and even other categories of cryptocurrencies.” (Portal do Bitcoin)
Customers of Bitcoin To You, one of Brazil’s first crypto exchanges, are reporting that they are unable to withdraw funds from the platform, prompting a panic that it may have shut down. Recent complaints on Reclame Aqui claim that the brokerage no longer has customer support channels open. (Livecoins)
📲 Adoption
Crypto lawyer Nicole Dyskant has raised a R$4.3 million pre-seed round for RegDoor, a company that uses AI agents to help companies comply with global regulations. (Valor)
Brazil is a global example for cryptocurrency regulation, Binance chief marketing officer Rachel Conlan said during a recent visit to the country. (Exame)
Around 34% of Brazilian students would need to first stop gambling on betting sites before enrolling in an undergraduate university program, according to a new study. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
🏛 Policy, Regulation and Enforcement
Federal Police arrested two and recovered R$5.5 million in cryptocurrency related to the hack linked to the Central Bank’s Pix system in an enforcement action called Operation Magna Fraus. Police said that a majority of the R$541 million stolen was converted into crypto. (Portal do Bitcoin) (InfoMoney) (Exame)
Brazil’s government issued a warning about scams that involve fake job offerings lure Brazilians with promises of a better life abroad. Upon arrival, victims are forced into committing cryptocurrency scams by organized crime groups. (Livecoins)
A joint congressional committee to analyze the tax changes proposed by the Finance Ministry in Provisional Measure 1303/2025 will be chaired by Senator Renan Calheiros. (Portal do Bitcoin)
Ex-footballer Ronaldinho Gaucho was summoned by a Barra da Tijuca court in a lawsuit over his involvement in the 18k Ronaldinho crypto investment scheme. (Portal do Bitcoin)
New legislation calls for bets made on online gambling websites to be registered on blockchain for immutability and visibility purposes. (Portal do Bitcoin)