Brazil and What to Expect for the Future
lot of attention lately, mainly due to the
explosive growth in the value of bitcoins
and the fact that Chicago Board Options
Exchange and Chicago Mercantile
Exchange are starting to negotiate these
assets in regulated environments but
most of all, because of their various uses.
This kind of scenario is possible
due to blockchain, the technology that
grants every member of the structure
access to a secure database containing
all the transactions carried out within the
path traveled by each unit generated by
the system since its inception and insert
new transactions, which are divulged to
everyone else.
Many systems have offered some of
these features and had some of these
characteristics, but the cryptocurrencies
and their respective blockchain have
incorporated them all in the same
package. They were the first systems to
achieve great popularity in this field.
Cryptocurrencies allow each person to
act as the custodian, the payment agent
and the clearinghouse of their transactions
and currency. This changes the logic
behind the current financial structure,
as the user becomes responsible for the
security of his or her money.
Such an innovation is possible given
that blockchain changed the logic behind
information and transaction verification.
Previously, some companies and the
state were the only entities that held a
very special asset: market and consumer
confidence; hence, only they could act as
intermediaries in financial transactions
and verification of information.
Blockchain allowed anyone to play
this role, as the portion of information
necessary to perform these checks is
public, and the system encourages its
users to perform these activities by
supplying them with cryptocurrencies.
Upon analyzing the legal impact of
this situation, a well-known lesson is
reinforced: the law has great difficulty in
keeping up with technological innovation.
This fact stems from the very nature of the
legislative process and the formation of
precedents, which take years to complete,
while technology advances and reinvents
itself with great agility.
regarding the legal treatment of
cryptocurrencies in Brazil, and some
regulatory efforts: Draft Bill 2303 of 2015,
Notices 25,306/2013 and 31,379/2017
issued by the Brazilian Central Bank
(BACEN); the Brazilian Securities
Exchange Commission Market Statement
published on November 16, 2017; and
the positioning of the Brazilian Internal
Revenue Service.
Draft Bill 2303/2015 is the main
regulatory effort regarding cryptocurrencies
in Brazil. It seeks to include "virtual
currencies" (another nomenclature
to cryptocurrencies) and air mileage
programs in the definition of "payment
arrangements" under the supervision of
BACEN.
receiving harsh criticism given that
cryptocurrencies can be used as a payment
arrangement, but, due to the possibilities
provided by their blockchains, they
have many other completely different
uses (digital identity, logistics, etc.). If
this bill makes the start-ups that act in
this segment comply with the rules that
regulate payment arrangements, they will
leave Brazil. There is no central authority
issuing cryptocurrencies, so there is no way
to apply the controls applied to payment
arrangements to exchanges and other
companies.
BACEN itself has declared that it is
against the current wording of the Draft Bill
2303/2015, and several public hearings on
the subject have been held. On December
12, 2017, the congress commission
responsible for the Draft Bill issued a
at Barcellos Tucunduva Advogados, where
he practices in the areas of banking, finance,
capital markets law and investment funds.
Barcellos Tucunduva Advogados, where he
practices in the areas of banking, finance,
capital markets law and investment funds.
Av. Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek,
1726 4º andar
Sao Paulo, 04543-000 Brazil
ldoles@btlaw.com.br
btlaw.com.br
de Lara Borsato