Brazilian Regulator Wants ‘Transparency’ in Crypto Sector, Prepares to Issue Guidelines

(Source: Robert Rusell/Unsplash)

Brazil’s markets regulator says it wants “transparency” in crypto and claims it is preparing a set of industry guidelines. The body is working in conjunction with the nation’s Economy Ministry – in a possible further setback for MPs hoping to regulate the sector.

Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission, known locally as the CVM, spectacularly u-turned on a distinctly laissez-faire attitude to crypto, announcing abruptly that it wanted to play a key part in crypto policy formation.

The CVM is under new management, but its former chief had appeared happy to wash the commission’s hands of the matter. Accordingly, MPs drew up a relatively pro-business private member’s bill that is now awaiting final confirmation from parliament. The eleventh-hour CVM intervention may require the President to veto the entire bill – and scupper a process that began way back in 2015.

In an official post, the CVM wrote that “cryptoassets” were one of the key matters discussed in a meeting with the ministry’s policy creation unit held in Rio de Janeiro late last week.

Joao Pedro Nascimento, the CVM chief, was quoted as stating that the comission was “attentive to the issue” of crypto and “will soon issue” its own “advisory” guidelines for the sector. He claimed that crypto’s “transparency issues” needed “to be explored.”

(CVM and Economy Ministry officials meet in Rio. Source: CVM)

Nascimento concluded:

“The public needs to have information available [about cryptoassets] provided to it in a clear and objective manner.”

Crypto adoption is on the rise in Brazil. Earlier this month, government data revealed that Brazilians have spent more money than ever before on crypto purchases this year. In May, crypto buyers smashed their previous spending records by spending a combined USD 912 million on coins in the space of just 31 days.

A number of major Latin America-based crypto players have also issued bitcoin cashback credit cards in Brazil – which reward customers with BTC payouts when they make a fiat purchase.