The Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) has completely banned the use of virtual assets for international payment settlements, tightening control over cryptocurrency fund flows. According to a resolution announced last Thursday, regulated electronic foreign exchange (eFX) providers must use only foreign exchange transactions or non-resident BRL accounts for overseas transactions, and the use of virtual assets is prohibited. This measure is not a ban on cryptocurrencies, but rather aims to enhance the efficiency of foreign exchange supervision by blocking the inflow of stablecoins within regulated institutional payment networks. Brazilian authorities determined that the fact that 90% of cross-border remittances are linked to stablecoins increases the risk of tax evasion and money laundering. In particular, seeing that externally issued stablecoins not supervised by the central bank could infringe on monetary sovereignty, they announced future removal from the domestic market or strict restrictive measures.
