Coinbase Files to Keep Operating Under Brazil’s New Crypto Rules

Coinbase is now one of the crypto firms waiting on a ruling from Brazil’s central bank, after it applied on Wednesday to be licensed as a virtual asset service provider (VASP), according to reports. That keeps the U.S. exchange inside the transition period for providers already operating in the country, which closes to new filings on Oct. 30. Brazilian reports said the company announced the filing on Thursday.

Under the framework the Banco Central do Brasil adopted in November 2025, companies already offering crypto services in the country must request authorization by Oct. 30. Firms that file on time may keep providing those services until their authorization process concludes, though they can’t take on another category of crypto license while the request is pending. Firms that miss the date must stop within 30 days. The review runs in two phases, and the first checks, among other things, that a firm was already operating when the rules took effect in February.

A Coinbase spokesperson said in remarks to a reporter, according to reports, that “we do not expect the application review to require a suspension of our existing services.”

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A second date follows the filing deadline. Starting Nov. 6, banks, payment institutions and other institutions the central bank authorizes may not carry out or facilitate crypto operations with service providers that are not authorized to operate in Brazil, under a September amendment to the rules. The earlier version of that provision also exempted providers whose authorization was still being processed. The amended text does not include that exemption.

Coinbase’s request follows Binance, which applied on Oct. 23 and has cut new loans and margin trading for Brazilian users. Banks already licensed by the central bank use a separate notice process; Itaú Unibanco filed its notice on Oct. 27.

Brazil’s VASP rules let a crypto intermediary also issue e-money and offer crypto services in the foreign exchange market, but only under those activities’ own regulations, including central bank authorization rules. That is where Coinbase is headed: a company statement published in Brazil describes its goal as bringing the “Everything Exchange” concept to the country, with a strategy covering FX operations and payment services, e-money issuance among them.

Related Listen: New US Rules Could Force Coinbase to Delist Tether

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