Brazilian Lawmakers Want to Hear from Binance, Bitso & OKX as MPs Target Crypto Scams

Brazilian lawmakers have summoned the heads of major crypto exchanges to parliament, with representatives of the trading platforms Binance, Bitso, and OKX all set to attend.

Per the Brazilian media outlet Livecoins, a special parliamentary commission for “cryptocurrency-based financial pyramid schemes” (known as the CPI) has approved a list of 38 people who will be summoned to parliament to face questioning from MPs.

In addition to a number of alleged crypto pyramid organizers, the list includes “witnesses” and “experts” in the crypto field.

Lawmakers say they want to develop a better understanding of crypto and how crypto-themed pyramids work, and think crypto exchanges can help them in this regard.

Some of the “experts” summoned to parliament include Guilherme Haddad Nazar, the head of Binance in Brazil.

Other exchanges were asked to attend, including the aforementioned Bitso, as well as KuCoin, OKX, Coinbase, Liqi Digital Assets, and Bitget.

Bitso is one of Latin America’s biggest crypto trading platforms.

Foxbit, which is currently working with the nation’s Central Bank on the latter’s digital real project, has also been asked to attend.

But the spotlight may fall on the representatives of “some of the biggest” suspected crypto “pyramids and frauds in Brazil.”

These include GAS Consultoria, Atlas Quantum, and Indeal.

The latter is thought to have amassed some $193 million from investors before declaring bankruptcy in February this year.

Other notable crypto advocates and experts have also been invited.

These include Fernando Ulrich, the author of the book “Bitcoin: The Currency of the Digital Era,” one of the first crypto-related publications to achieve mainstream success in Brazil.

The BTC bull Thiago Nigro, also known as Primo Rico, was also invited to help “explain how the market works.”

Nigro’s firm, Rico Investimentos, has been notably active in the domestic Bitcoin market.

Crypto Exchanges Asked to Attend Brazil’s Parliament: What Are CPI’s Next Steps?

The CPI late last month heard calls from lawmakers who demanded that big tech firms and mainstream national media outlets attend.

Some MPs feel that social media platforms, media websites, and TV stations are doing too little to combat a rise in crypto scams.

They think some media outlets are airing and publishing crypto scammers’ advertisements, and want media chiefs to act.

They also think that scammers are advertising their projects with ease on social media platforms.

CRYPTO AWARENESS:

92% of people worldwide know about cryptocurrencies, with 50% claiming to understand them. Notably high levels of understanding can be seen in Nigeria (78%), South Korea (63%), South Africa (61%), Brazil (59%), and India (56%). 🧵 3/ pic.twitter.com/6VD3BnXJAp

— Monleru (@Monleru) July 2, 2023

Lawmakers said they wanted to summon the regional heads of Meta (the operator of Instagram, Facebook, and Whatsapp), as well as Google, Telegram, TikTok, and Twitter.

They also said they wanted to speak to the head of Grupo Bandeirantes de Comunicação, one of the nation’s biggest broadcast networks, and Grupo Globo, the publisher of the nation’s best-read newspapers.

But, thus far, lawmakers have failed in their attempts to convince the CPI to summon IT and media leaders, with “requests” all “postponed” for the time being.