Cryptocurrency in Brazil
Regulation is being revised. We check this page monthly, but before a large operation confirm with the primary source — something may have changed this week.
Where to buy crypto legally in Brazil
The Central Bank's rules for companies that sell, exchange, transfer or hold crypto for customers took effect on 2 February 2026 ⚖️1. The law calls such companies virtual asset service providers (PSAVs). A new company must be authorized before it starts operating.
Companies that were already operating before 2 February could keep working and apply for authorization until the end of October 2026 ⚖️2. Those that applied on time operate under a transition regime while the Central Bank reviews the application. Under the rules, those that did not apply must stop providing these services within 30 days after the deadline ⚖️3. By the same deadline, foreign companies must move their customers from Brazil to a company with a Central Bank licence ⚖️1. So a foreign exchange may move your account to its Brazilian company, ask you to accept new terms or limit some of its services.
The Central Bank set a deadline of 6 November 2026. From that date, banks and other financial institutions may carry out crypto operations only through authorized companies or companies under the transition regime ⚖️45. You will most likely be unable to top up an account on an unauthorized platform from a Brazilian bank.
Under Central Bank rules, buying and selling stablecoins, that is, digital dollars such as USDT, counts as a foreign exchange operation, like exchanging reais for dollars ⚖️. That is why USDT can be sold to you only by a company authorized to deal in foreign currency. International crypto payments are placed in the same group, as are transfers between an exchange and your own wallet, meaning a wallet whose key you keep yourself ⚖️6. The article what is a stablecoin explains what a stablecoin is.
How do you check that an exchange is authorized by the Central Bank of Brazil?
Check the company against the Central Bank's official data ⚖️.
- Find the company's legal name and its CNPJ number (the registration number of a legal entity in Brazil) in the app's terms of use.
- Search for the company in the regulator's records online. where to check: Banco Central do Brasil, bcb.gov.br, search for institutions authorized by the Central Bank The same site has a list of companies operating under the transition regime while their applications are reviewed4.
- If the company is neither among the authorized ones nor on the transition list, don't send it money.
Don't rush, even if a platform pushes you with a bonus or a "last day of the offer". A familiar name guarantees nothing. Scammers copy the brands of well-known exchanges, and one exchange runs different companies in different countries. The general steps of buying are in the guide how to buy crypto, and choosing a platform by signs you can verify is covered in how to choose a crypto exchange.
Taxes on crypto in Brazil
Tax is paid when you sell crypto or otherwise dispose of it for more than you paid ⚖️. It is calculated on the capital gain (ganho de capital), the difference between the sale price and the purchase price. If you bought crypto for 1,000 reais and sold it for 1,500, the gain is 500 reais. How much to pay on the gain, and in which cases no tax is due, the tax agency explains in its collection of answers for the annual return.
Crypto you held at the end of the year is listed as property in the annual income tax return (IRPF), in the section "Bens e Direitos" ("Assets and rights") ⚖️7. Whether a small amount has to be listed is explained in the same collection.
Income from investments abroad is taxed under separate rules, once a year in the same return. Whether crypto on a foreign exchange counts as such an investment is decided by the tax agency ⚖️8.
How crypto taxes work in general and which actions create a tax is covered in how to handle crypto taxes.
Reporting crypto transactions in Brazil
DeCripto is a monthly report to the tax agency on crypto transactions, separate from the annual return. It has been filed since July 2026 ⚖️9.
If you buy and sell through a Brazilian company, the company reports. If you use a foreign exchange or transfer crypto without an exchange, for example from your own wallet to another person, you file the report yourself when the month's total is above the threshold ⚖️.
It is filed every month, by the last business day of the following month10. The report is required even when no tax is due ⚖️.
Safety and risks
When the rules change, scammers take advantage. So if you get an email or a call about an "urgent account re-registration required by the Central Bank", check it only in your exchange's app, opened by you, and don't follow links from messages. A website or "account manager" promising high returns with no risk is almost certainly a scam. The article what are phishing and scams in crypto shows how to recognize such schemes.
You may keep crypto in your own wallet in Brazil, and the regulations expressly let customers choose this kind of storage ⚖️. If you withdraw a large amount from an exchange to your own wallet or deposit one from it, the exchange may hold the transfer for up to a day and report it to the financial intelligence unit (Coaf) ⚖️11. This is a routine check set out in the regulations.
In your own wallet, access to the crypto depends on you alone, so the seed phrase, the set of words used to restore the wallet, is written down and shown to no one (what is a seed phrase, how to store crypto).
Legal status of crypto in Brazil
The law calls crypto a "virtual asset", meaning a digital representation of value that can be sold or transferred over the internet and used for payments or as an investment ⚖️12. Bitcoin, USDT and other cryptocurrencies fall under this definition.
The real remains legal tender throughout the country ⚖️13. So a seller is not obliged to accept crypto. You can pay with it if the seller agrees.
Who regulates crypto in Brazil
The rules for virtual asset service providers are set by the Central Bank of Brazil (Banco Central do Brasil). It also authorizes and supervises them ⚖️14. Tokens that are in essence securities, for example those giving a share in a project's income, are overseen by Brazil's securities regulator (CVM) ⚖️15. Bitcoin is not covered by the CVM's rules ⚖️16.
Where to check the latest information
Laws are published in the legal database of the Presidência da República (planalto.gov.br). Rules for providers and data on authorizations come from the Central Bank (bcb.gov.br), tax rules, returns and deadlines from Receita Federal (gov.br/receitafederal), and rules on tokens that are securities from the CVM (gov.br/cvm).
More detail on the laws and decisions behind the rules
Brazil's main crypto law was passed on 21 December 2022 as No. 14,478. It took effect 180 days after publication ⚖️12. The law does not treat the following as virtual assets ⚖️:
- the real and foreign currencies;
- electronic money, such as a balance in a payment app;
- loyalty program points and other rights to goods or services;
- assets whose issuance and trading are already governed by another law, such as securities.
The provider rules were adopted by the Central Bank in November 2025 in three resolutions: No. 519 on the procedure for obtaining authorization, No. 520 on how providers are organized and operate, and No. 521 on foreign exchange operations with crypto ⚖️3. Under these rules there are three kinds of providers: an intermediary that matches buyers with sellers, a custodian that holds customers' crypto, and a broker that does both.
The CVM assesses each token separately. A token becomes a security, for example, when it represents a share or a debt, or when it is sold to the public as a stake in a joint investment with a promise of returns from the efforts of others15. Bitcoin derivatives, that is, contracts whose price depends on the price of bitcoin, remain under the CVM's rules ⚖️16.
Since 2024, individuals' income from financial investments abroad has been taxed under Law No. 14,754 of 12 December 2023. In 2025 the government issued a provisional measure (Medida Provisória) No. 1,303/2025 that changed the taxes on investments and on crypto. Congress did not turn it into law, it lapsed, and its crypto rules do not apply ⚖️1718.
DeCripto was introduced by Receita Federal Normative Instruction No. 2,291 of 14 November 2025, in line with the international standard for exchanging tax information on crypto (CARF) ⚖️9. It replaces the former procedure under Instruction No. 1,888/2019 ⚖️19.
