#217: Receita Federal Ramps Up Surveillance of Overseas Transactions
Plus: Tether invests in Parfin; leadership spat at ABCripto
Olá pessoal!
Welcome back to Brazil Crypto Report for the week of November 17-21, 2025.
It’s regulation season in Brazil. Earlier this month we saw long anticipated VASP regulations released by the Central Bank (a 3 year wait!), and this past week came new crypto tax reporting rules from the Receita Federal, the country’s tax authority.
The new tax rules take aim at loopholes in the current tax reporting system that incentivize trading on offshore exchanges to stay out of purview of local authorities. Traders who’ve been enjoying that anonymity will soon be in for a rude awakening.
But the market was relieved to learn that the Receita Federal is not trying to impose the IOF financial transactions tax on crypto operations - at least not for now. We have a report that the Ministry of Finance is exploring all options available in order to extract tax revenue from crypto transactions.
Read on to explore in more depth!
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Receita Federal introduces new crypto tax rules targeting foreign exchanges
The Receita Federal, Brazil’s tax authority, has published a sweeping update to crypto tax reporting requirements through the new DeCripto program. The changes expand transparency obligations across centralized exchanges and DeFi, while not creating any new taxes.
The framework aligns Brazil with the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), enabling international data sharing starting in 2027.
In practice, this program seeks to expand control over crypto transactions made by Brazilians on international platforms by closing a grey area that many investors believe exists when trading outside of the country.
The “normative instruction”, as the regulation is called, doesn’t change taxation rules but rather increases authorities’ visibility into international and decentralized operations. It achieves this via data cross-referencing and automatic exchange of information with dozens of countries.
Specifically, overseas crypto platforms are now required to report transaction data of Brazilian consumers to the tax authority.
Subsecretary of Fiscalização Andrea Costa Chaves stressed that the goal is compliance, not revenue:
“This is not about raising taxes. It’s about ensuring no one falls outside the fiscal radar.”
In practice, this means that crypto investors who use international platforms with the goal of staying out of sight of the Receita Federal will be in for a rude awakening.
Tax expert Arcênio Rodrigues da Silva told InfoMoney:
“The Receita Federal is creating an environment where it will be very difficult to maintain relevant operations without them being declared and taxed. There is no creation of a new tax, but there is a significant increase in the capacity for oversight, accompanied by the automatic exchange of information with dozens of countries.”
The rules will come into effect starting July 2026.
One of the most market-friendly aspects is the absence of a financial-transaction tax (IOF) on stablecoin operations - despite recent Central Bank moves to treat some stablecoin transfers as FX operations. This was a major concern for the industry following the release of the Central Bank regulations.
Crypto tax specialist Daniel de Paiva Gomes told Valor:
“The taxable event for IOF is the settlement of a foreign-exchange operation -which does not occur in digital-asset transactions.”
“Stablecoins pegged to fiat currency are not instruments that represent foreign currency.”
The rules bring DeFi fully into scope. They require reporting of staking rewards, liquidity-pool lending, airdrops and mining income, along with payments made in crypto, transfers between one’s own wallets, and even losses from hacks or scams.
Gomes explained that these rules for DeFi have always existed, but that applicability and enforcement has been complex.
“First, because there is no way to withhold tax at source, given the absence of a paying source in Brazil, so tax compliance depends on the user.”
The reporting exemption threshold for operations outside Brazilian exchanges was also increased from R$ 30k to R$ 35k per month, a simplification welcomed by the market.
Industry associations were supportive, but cautious about extraterritorial enforcement that requires foreign platforms serving Brazilian users to report transactions.
The tokenization trade group ABToken raised legal concerns around the inclusion of foreign service providers in the framework:
“This extraterritorial projection creates legal uncertainty.”
“These obligations should first be defined in law, not introduced solely through a regulatory instruction.”
And Gislene Cabral, Chief Compliance Officer at NovaDAX, highlighted the intent behind the changes:
“Brazil is not creating a new crypto tax - it is reducing the space for fiscal invisibility to almost zero.”
“If a platform actively serves the Brazilian market, it should play by the same transparency rules as a domestic company.”
Federal Deputy Julia Zanatta introduced a resolution in Congress to suspend parts of the Receita Federal’s instruction. She and fellow legislators argue that the tax agency has effectively “legislated by instruction”, imposing substantial compliance obligations on individuals and foreign platforms without a statute passed by Congress.
No IOF… For Now
While the Receita Federal didn’t impose IOF on stablecoins in its guidance, Reuters reported that Brazil’s Finance Ministry is actively exploring ways to apply the tax to crypto transactions that are classified as foreign exchange transactions.
Accoring to Reuters sources, the move is designed to close a regulatory loophole as well as generate additional revenue. The report cites Receita Federal data that the total crypto asset trading volume for the first half of the year in the country was R$227.4 billion (a 20% year over year increase) and that USDT accounted for 67% of this total.
Valor Livecoins CoinTelegraph Brasil
Tether announces investment in Parfin
USDT stablecoin issuer Tether announced an investment in Brazilian digital asset infrastructure provider Parfin.
The amount of the investment was not disclosed. According to Tether, the decision is part of its commitment to supporting banks, asset managers and companies using USDT in the region.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a statement that the investment reflects the company’s “confidence in Latin America as one of the global powerhouses in blockchain innovation.”
Tether also announced a strategic investment in bitcoin lending platform Ledn.
Portal do Bitcoin CoinTelegraph Brasil
Fight over Leadership of ABCripto
A court has ordered lobby group ABCripto to convene an extraordinary general meeting to deliberate the future of CEO Bernardo Srur.
The ruling comes amid a governance dispute between Srur and several members of the group’s board of directors.
If the meeting is not convened within three working days, Srur will be subject to a daily fine of R$2,000.
The court decision states:
“Considering that the Statute provides for the automatic reappointment of the CEO if there is no General Assembly and that the term ends on December 16, 2025, given the urgency of the measure, I grant the requested injunction (…) to order the CEO to convene an Extraordinary General Assembly.”
The board members claim that they proposed a peaceful transition of power and attempted to negotiate the vacancy of the position beginning July 14, but this proposal was repeatedly denied.
Srur had originally sued four of the board members for attempting to convene the assembly to discuss his leadership of the organization. His mandate expires at the end of the year.
The board members further allege that the board has been requesting access to the association’s financial and tax information, but has been unable to obtain these documents. They further allege that the group has been irregular with the Receita Federal (Brazil’s tax authority) since May, with no explanation given as to why.
Portal do Bitcoin Portal do Bitcoin
🗞Brazil Crypto News Rundown
📈 Markets
Ripio disclosed that it holds roughly R$ 540 million (US$100 million) in crypto reserves, making it the second-largest such reserve in Latin America behind only OranjeBTC. (Portal do Bitcoin) (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Coinbase is launching its “DeFi Mullet” decentralized-exchange offering in Brazil, giving users access to trade over 10,000 tokens via its familiar app interface. (CoinTelegraph Brasil) (Livecoins)
Mercado Bitcoin is exploring the use of tokenized real-world assets to offer Brazilian investors fractional exposure to private tech giants like OpenAI and SpaceX. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
The French telecom group Orange S.A. has filed five oppositions with Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property against Brazilian firm OranjeBTC, arguing the latter is improperly using the “Orange” brand. (Livecoins)
Méliuz’s shares have erased all gains from its March decision to adopt a Bitcoin-treasury strategy. The price fell back to pre-announcement levels as BTC’s downturn dragged the stock, highlighting the firm’s growing correlation to Bitcoin, of which it now holds roughly 605 BTC. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
📲 Adoption
VERT Capital and UISA have issued Brazil’s first agribusiness receivables certificate with full on-chain traceability on the XDC Network. (Reuters)
MiniPay, the stablecoin wallet from Opera, has launched a “Pay like a local” feature in Brazil and Argentina, enabling users to spend USDT at local merchants via Pix and Mercado Pago with instant conversion to local currency. (CoinDesk)
KuCoin Pay has integrated with Brazil’s instant-payment network Pix, enabling users to convert over 50 cryptocurrencies into Brazilian reais and pay any merchant accepting Pix QR codes. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
OKX announced financial educator and influencer Nathalia Arcuri as its newest ambassador. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
AirCarbon Exchange (ACX) Brasil, in partnership with B3 exchange, announced a new digital currency to fractionalize long-duration carbon credit projects. The goal is to unlock liquidity and reduce financing risk ahead of Brazil’s regulated emissions-trading market in 2030. (Valor) (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
A malware campaign targeting Brazilian crypto-users and banks via WhatsApp has been spreading relentlessly. The attack uses a worm plus the trojan known as “Eternidade Stealer” to steal credentials, private-keys and move funds. Experts urge users to take caution when opening any type of attachment or file sent via WhatsApp. (CriptoFacil) (Portal do Bitcoin) (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Brazilian agribusiness is increasingly adopting stablecoins to accelerate liquidity and generate recurring income, with some projects aiming to achieve around R$ 1 million per month through tokenised exposure to carbon credits and commodity value streams. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
🏛 Policy, Regulation and Enforcement
Law enforcement in Ceara, Alagoas and Santa Catarina executed Operation Endpoint targeting a criminal organization engaged in covert cryptocurrency mining and money laundering. (Portal do Bitcoin) (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Saulo Gonçalves Roque, a former operator in the MSK Invest crypto-pyramid case, was assaulted and held hostage for several hours along with his family at their luxury residence in a gated condominium in Alfenas, Minas Gerais. (Livecoins)
A proposed amendment to Brazil’s anti-terrorism law would require fintechs and crypto exchanges to block, trace and report crypto transactions for “terrorist” group financing, with penalties of 4-8 years imprisonment for failing to comply. (Livecoins)
The party Partido NOVO introduced a decree aiming to suspend parts of the Central Bank’s regulations for virtual-asset service providers, arguing that the rules would allow the regulator to “monitor every satoshi” and turn Brazil into a “Big Brother of cryptocurrencies.” (Livecoins)
Several other Brazilian lawmakers are publicly criticizing the Central Bank’s new rules that classify stable-coin transactions as foreign-exchange operations, arguing that the move threatens innovation, imposes heavy compliance burdens and essentially treats every crypto transfer as an international currency trade. (CoinTelegraph Brasil)
Criminal lawyer Luís Maurício Martins Gualda, who claimed he lost large sums in crypto investments, admitted to orchestrating a dramatic “cinematic” theft in Niterói, using a hyper-realistic mask to break into an apartment - but ended up stealing only about R$ 80,000 in luxury watches. (Portal do Bitcoin)