The law will allow the president of Brazil to designate or create a regulatory agency to oversee the crypto market.
The bill regulating the cryptocurrency market in Brazil is expected to be approved by the National Congress in the first half of this year, according to Cointelegraph Brazil.
The
legislation, which has been debated in the Chamber of Deputies since
2015, has been approved in the first round of consideration. The Senate
has attached it to another crypto-focused bill, which has already been approved by the Economic Affairs Committee of the Senate.
Two
legislators, Senator Irajá Abreu and Deputy Aureo Ribeiro, both
rapporteurs of the aforementioned proposals in their respective
legislative chambers, are drafting a unified text of the bill that will
be sent to the full Senate vote.
“I'm doing everything in contact
with the Chamber's rapporteur, who did a very good job. The Central
Bank's technical team has also been very helpful. The texts are similar
and converged into one,” said Senator Irajá.
Irajá also pointed out that the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, is expected to put the unified bill to an April plenary vote. He said:
“By
joining the projects together, we accelerated the approval of this
cryptocurrency milestone. There is a market demand for a safer business
environment and the need for criminal classification to avoid fraud, in
addition to adjusting Brazil to international agreements.”
The approval of the law in plenary will not make Bitcoin legal tender in Brazil as it does in El Salvador.
The
proposed law would allow the Brazilian president to determine a federal
entity responsible for establishing rules for cryptocurrencies. The
president would either create a new regulator or delegate this function
to the nation’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) or the Central
Bank of Brazil (BC).
The regulator will be responsible for
defining market guidelines and establishing norms in line with
international standards to prevent money laundering and the concealment
of assets.
The bill also proposes a penalty of four to eight years
in prison, in addition to a fine for those who commit fraud in the
provision of virtual asset services.
Another point highlighted in
the bill is a set of incentives for crypto miners to set up shop in
Brazil. It proposes to exempt the import of ASICs to the country from
taxes. However, this could not be enough to lure Bitcoin miners into the
country, provided that energy rates in Brazil are among the highest in
South America and about five times higher than in nations like Paraguay
and Venezuela.
source link : https://cointelegraph.com/news/brazilian-senate-announces-incoming-approval-of-the-bitcoin-law
