Brazil To Pass Crypto Money Laundering Bill Soon

JAKARTA - Brazilian lawmakers continue to strive to provide stricter regulations for cryptocurrency-related crimes, by approving a new set of penalties for money laundering with crypto.

The Special Committee of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies has approved a bill that significantly tightens penalties for financial crimes that use cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), according to an official announcement on Wednesday last week.

The latest regulatory amendment is part of Bill 2303/15, increasing the size of the fine from one-third of the amount laundered to two-thirds. The bill also proposes increasing the minimum prison sentence from three to four years, and increasing the maximum prison term from 10 years to 16 years and eight months, in addition to the fine.

According to the announcement, the bill will be further discussed by the Plenary Session of the Brazilian parliament.

Federal Deputy Aureo Ribeiro stressed that the new bill will help the state to protect the Brazilian people from crypto fraud schemes. He noted that more than 300,000 people were affected by the "financial pyramid scheme with cryptocurrencies" in Rio de Janeiro.

“With the lack of regulation, people have nowhere to turn. The market will move forward and adjust in Brazil. There will be no more profiteers using technology to deceive millions of Brazilians,” Ribeiro was quoted as saying by Cointelegraph.

Ribeiro is optimistic about other aspects of the bill, which regulates broader cryptocurrency operations such as trading, storage, fiat exchange and payments. According to a report by Cointelegraph Brasil, Ribeiro said that Bitcoin will be accepted as payment in Brazil once the bill is passed into law.

Brazil has seen some signs of cryptocurrency development and adoption recently. In August, Roberto Campos Neto, head of Brazil's central bank, called on states to embrace the crypto market by reshaping local regulations.

In June, the Brazilian Stock Exchange launched trading in another Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), following an earlier listing of several other crypto ETFs earlier this year.