#204: Brazilian Congress Holds Hearing on Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Bill
Plus: Nubank launches ETF with bitcoin exposure; Trezoitao promotes bitcoin with VP Geraldo Alckmin
Olá pessoal!
Welcome back to Brazil Crypto Report for the week of August 18-22, 2025.
Before we jump in, I wanted to flag that Stellar is hosting its annual Meridian conference in Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro on September 17-18.
It’s the first time that I’m aware of that a major protocol has hosted its major ecosystem conference in Brazil, so I encourage everyone to check out the event if you’re able.
You can access general admission tickets at this link for just US$29,
👊 Jump into the BCR English language Telegram group if you’d like to continue the conversation
📰 Top Stories this Week
Trezoitao shills bitcoin to VP Geraldo Alckmin at book event in Brasilia
Bitcoin Strategic Reserve bill gets a hearing in Congress
Nubank launches new ETF with bitcoin exposure
BlockBR looks to become “XP of Tokenization”
Vasco da Gama launches NFTs in partnership with Trexx
Thanks for reading and have a great week!
- AWS
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🎙️New Podcasts!
This week I’m joined by Gustavo Cunha, CEO of Fintrender, and Marcos Sarres, CEO of GoLedger, to discuss the Central Bank of Brazil’s decision to strip the Hyperledger blockchain component from the Drex CBDC project.
We discuss the motives behind this surprise decision, including technical difficulties associated with privacy and scalability. We also talk about the path forward for the Drex project in its simpler form - focusing on reconciling liens so as to facilitate credit flow.
This was a great recap of how Drex arrived in its current state and its impact on Brazil’s blockchain sector.
Bitcoin Strategic Reserve bill gets a hearing in Congress
Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies held a public hearing on August 20 to discuss PL 4501/2024, a bill introduced by Deputy Eros Biondini proposing that up to 5% of the country’s international reserves be allocated to bitcoin.
Not surprisingly, the proposal drew contrasting views: crypto advocates highlighted bitcoin’s resilience and diversification potential, while officials from the Central Bank of Brazil and Finance Ministry raised concerns over its volatility, liquidity risks, and governance ambiguity.
Those testifying included
Diego Kolling, head of Bitcoin strategy at Meliuz,
Julia Rosin, coordinator of the ABCripto public policy working group,
Luis Guilherme Siciliano, head of the international reserves department at the Central Bank
Pedro Henrique Guerra, chief of staff to VP Geraldo Alckmin
Rubens Sardenberg, chief economist at Febraban
Daniel Leal, head of the undersecretary of public debt at the Ministry of Finance
Not surprisingly, representatives from the government and Central Bank were not at all supportive of the strategic reserve idea. Leal recited typical boomer/normie talking points about how bitcoin is too risky and too volatile to be used for something like this:
"Furthermore, there is evidence that in times of crisis, Bitcoin can act as a risky asset, losing value precisely when we need solid and stable reserves.”
Siciliano cited simulations from the IMF and World Bank advising countries against including bitcoin in their international reserves:
"The simulations considered a hypothetical allocation of 5% of reserves to the cryptoasset. In conclusion, the simulations show a substantial increase in risk to the international reserves portfolio for the various periods tested, as expected."
You can watch the full hearing (in Portguese) on the Chamber of Deputies’ YouTube channel
Portal do Bitcoin Portal do Bitcoin CoinTelegraph Brasil Valor Valor Investe Exame BeinCrypto
Trezoitao shills bitcoin to VP Alckmin
Controversial bitcoin maximalist, educator and Lula critic Renato Trezoitao was photographed alongside Brazil’s Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and his chief of staff Pedro Guerra at the launch of the Portuguese translation of the book Thank God for Bitcoin.
Trezoitao, an outspoken critic of the current presidential administration, says the meeting was spontaneous and not politically motivated.
Nubank launches new ETF with bitcoin exposure
Nu Asset, Nubank’s investment fund manager, announced the launch of NBIT11, which it classifies as the first ETF in Brazil to offer exposure to bitcoin through B3-traded futures contracts.
The ETF starts trading with a minimum entry of R$ 50, a global management fee of 0.50%. The product will feature a decreasing global fee, meaning that as the fund’s assets grow the fee will gradually decrease.
Andres Kikuchi, CEO of Nu Asset Management, said in a statement:
"NBIT11 was developed as another alternative for investors seeking exposure to the cryptoasset market. With financial exposure to the future price of Bitcoin, the ETF offers access in a simple manner aligned with traditional financial market practices.”
Portal do Bitcoin CoinTelegraph Brasil Livecoins Exame BlockNews
BlockBR looks to become “XP of Tokenization”
The asset tokenization firm is leveraging what it calls its Autonomous Investment Structurer to become what founder Cassio Krupinsk calls the “XP of the tokenization world.”
Inspired by XP’s Autonomous Investment Agent structure, BlockBR’s model is designed to let asset managers tokenize and distribute financial products directly to investors without relying on banks or brokerages. The product not only recommends but also negotiating investments..
Krupinsk told Valor that the objective is to connect companies in need of funds with investors:
"The [product']’s role is to bring quality assets to be tokenized. It benefits from structuring and distribution to investors.”
Vasco da Gama launches NFTs in partnership with Trexx
The Rio-based football club is celebrating its 127th anniversary with the launch of a commemorative NFT collection. A total of 127 digital pieces of art were released, in partnership with Trexx, with each piece tied to a historic milestone from the club’s history.
By owning the collectible, holders get access to exclusive community perks and benefits.
Built using Tanssi infrastructure, the initiative also features gamification features where users complete missions to unlock additional benefits, as well as a secondary marketplace for trading.
🗞Brazil Crypto News Rundown
📈 Markets
Transfero has appointed founding partner Claudio Just as its new CEO, taking over for Marlyson Silva who will now serve as chairman of the company. (Portal do Bitcoin)
B2Broker announced its launch in Brazil and several other Latam countries, with a focus on serving unique challenges facing brokerages, exchanges, hedge funds and family offices in the country. Chief business officer John Murillo said:
"I often say that Brazil is a country apart within Latin America. It's a very specific environment, with its own requirements and complexities, such as capital controls.” (CoinTelegraph Brasil) (InfoMoney)
Brazilians have already traded R$ 6.5 billion in real-pegged stablecoins to date in 2025, surpassing the full-year volume of R$ 4.9 billion recorded in 2024, according to Dune’s LATAM Crypto 2025 Report by Dune. This growth reflects a dramatic rise from just R$ 110 million in 2021. The report states:
"What began as a marginal experiment quickly matured into a central pillar of Brazil's onchain economy, with transactions, users, and transferred value multiplying severalfold in just a few years.” (Portal do Bitcoin)
Argentina has overtaken Brazil as the region’s premier crypto hub, according to the Blockchain Latam 2025 report by Sherlock Communications. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Bitybank launched a “registration via Pix” solution that allows users to open an account and buy bitcoin or ethereum in less than a minute with a Pix transfer of R$10. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Fintech Jeitto - coming off a 82.3% revenue surge to R$ 800 million in 2024—launched its first R$ 110 million tokenized debenture on Mercado Bitcoin’s e‑GRANA platform, and is already preparing a second issuance worth R$ 250 million. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
The Central Bank’s decision to strip blockchain from Drex is a strategic mistake. Rather than a purely technical change, it represents a backward step for Brazil’s positioning in the global financial innovation race, argues Polkadot’s Gustavo Jopert Massena in Exame
📲 Adoption
Binance and Blockchain RIO say they reached over 2,500 Brazilian students in 2025 through their "Blockchain on the Road" initiative, delivering workshops, panels, and hands‑on sessions across 18 universities in 13 cities around the country. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Portal do Bitcoin profiled Bruno Oliveira, known as the “Sucateiro Cripto,” who uses his recycling income to purchase small amounts of Bitcoin through daily cost-averaging targeting a modest 0.1 bitcoin. His goal is not to get rich, but to avoid falling further behind financially while championing crypto education.
The Supreme Federal Court has received blockchain‐tokenized carbon credit certificates from Ambipar covering its full greenhouse gas emissions for 2023 and 2024, with each token representing one ton of carbon offset. (CoinTelegraph Brasil) (Exame)
Ambipar’s AMBI tokens are now trading on the B3 Digitas platform, with the goal of expanding access to transparent and secure emissions (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
BlindPay announced Named Virtual Accounts, effectively virtual dollar accounts for Latam companies, with settlement in stablecoins or local currencies. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Truther introduced the first self-custodial credit card integrated with Visa. The card will be available globally starting in starting in October. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
To celebrate its 56th anniversary, Gaviões da Fiel—Corinthians’ largest organized supporter group—launched a free digital album called “Fiel até o Fim” on BlinkPlanet, featuring 2,000 collectible cards depicting iconic moments in the club’s history, now available as NFTs. (BeinCrypto)
Brazil’s Ministry of Mines & Energy has integrated blockchain into the country’s Selo Procel energy-efficiency seal for appliances, replacing a manual, email-based process. Built by GoLedger, the platform looks to give consumers greater confidence in the authenticity of efficiency certifications. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Alphactral, built by a Brazilian team, has launched v2 of its on-chain analytics platform that integrates blockchain data with macroeconomic indicators, sentiment analysis and derivatives. (Livecoins)
Tangem is launching its seedless hardware wallet product in Brazil, with the goal of advancing self custody. The product is a card with an NFC chip that generates and stores private keys internally, eliminating the need for seed phrases. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
The Central Bank of Brazil issued, via Febraban, a warning about “atypical market movement” related to searches for USDT operators. The concern is that another cyberattack similar to the July hack of Pix infrastructure provider C&M Software. Febraban said in a statement:
"Febraban immediately notified its affiliated banks that participate in its Fraud Prevention and Cybersecurity Committees to take all possible measures to prevent a possible attack.” (Portal do Bitcoin) (Livecoins)
Aerodex, in partnership with Foxbit Pay, became the first Brazilian platform to issue airline tickets paid entirely with cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, XRP, and stablecoins. (Livecoins)
🏛 Policy, Regulation and Enforcement
A coalition of big tech firms, card networks, and Swift-affiliated players represented by the Information Technology Industry Council —filed a formal complaint with the US Trade Representative accusing Brazil’s Central Bank of unfairly favoring Pix by acting as both its operator and regulator - a dual role they argue undermines competition and excludes private payment providers. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Brazil’s Ministry of Finance has confirmed that starting in 2026, all bitcoin and cryptocurrency trades will be subject to a 17.5% flat tax, eliminating the current R$ 35,000 monthly exemption and applying this rate even to DeFi activities, staking, and self-custody transactions—collected at source by platforms when applicable. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Prosecutors revealed that two auditors under investigation -Artur Gomes da Silva Neto and Marcelo de Almeida Gouveia- refused to hand over private keys to wallets allegedly containing up to R$ 200 million in cryptocurrency tied to a massive ICMS corruption scheme, raising fears the assets could vanish unless authorities gain access. (Portal do Bitcoin)
Influencer Karol Digital and her partner were detained in Tocantins during Operation Fraus, a federal crackdown on organized crime. Authorities also seized tracked cryptocurrency assets tied to a scheme of illegal gambling, money laundering, and fraudulent financial activity. (Livecoins)
Three federal deputies have proposed a new law to combat illegal online gambling that introduces penalties of 2–6 years in prison plus fines. It adds a further one‑third increase in punitive measures specifically for those using cryptocurrencies. (Livecoins)
Federal District Civil Police secured a judicial freeze on around R$500,000 in cryptocurrency and other assets, targeting a criminal network posing as lawyers to defraud a 65-year-old victim. (Livecoins)