Brazil Inches Closer to Passing Historic Bitcoin Bill

Brazil has edged one step further to regulating Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. The South American country will be overseen by a more complete regulatory framework as different sectors of the government strive to pass an amended draft bill in the first half of this year.

Regulation of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies might come sooner than first thought as the draft bill creeps closer to law. Originally, there were two separate draft bills being discussed in parallel, but only one will keep advancing – the House Bill 4401/21.

First Round Approval for Legislation

The legislation, which has been the subject of talks in the Chamber of Deputies since 2015, has been approved in the first round of consideration. The Senate has attached itself to a different crypto-focused bill, which has already been granted approval by the Economic Affairs Committee of the Senate.

Senator Iraja Abreu and Deputy Aureo Ribeiro, two legislators and rapporteurs of the proposals, are drafting a unified text of the bill that will be sent to the full Senate for voting.

Senator Abreu has said: “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 [have] converged into one.”

Abreu also pointed out that the president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, was expected to put the bill to a vote this month, adding: “By joining the projects together, we have 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.”

Bitcoin Will Not Become Legal Tender in Brazil

The approval of the bill does not mean that bitcoin will be accepted as legal tender in Brazil. The proposed law would simply allow the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, to determine a federal entity responsible for regulating digital assets. Bolsonaro would either establish a new regulator or may delegate regulation to the nation’s Securities and Exchange Commission, or the Central Bank of Brazil.

Other Jurisdictions Attempting to Regulate Digital Assets

Earlier this week, Crypto News Australia reported that a former Blockstream executive had announced three jurisdictions that were set to make Bitcoin legal tender. Roatan in Honduras, Madeira in Portugal, and Mexico are in talks to make the cryptocurrency legal tender in its territories.

This is a very bullish sign as countries begin to see the benefit of adopting digital assets. A prime example is Ukraine, whose president Volodymyr Zelenskyy last month signed into law a bill that legalised the cryptocurrency market and established a more favourable regulatory framework for the war-torn country.