President of Brazil Sanctions Cryptocurrency Law

President Jair Bolsonaro has approved law 14.478, which regulates cryptocurrency-related operations and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) in Brazil. The document, approved on the last day of the period allowed, will begin to be applied 180 days after its sanction. This will give all parties a period to adapt to compliance.

Brazil has, at last, approved its cryptocurrency law in the nick of time. After having completed almost the whole period for taking action, President Jair Bolsonaro signed bill 14.478 into law on Dec. 21, when it was published in the Official Journal of the Union, the government publication of the country.

With Bolsonaro’s sanction, exchanges and other organizations subject to the law will have 180 days to prepare to comply with the new directives. However, if Bolsonaro had not sanctioned the law, the project would have returned to Congress, with the opportunity of being sanctioned by the Senate and the Deputy Chamber without presidential support.

This would have been another way of approving the legislation before President-elect Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva assumes his position in January.

The reactions to the approval of the law have been mostly positive, with people in the industry considering this as the first step for regulating the status of cryptocurrency and cryptocurrency trading in Brazil. However, due to different views on the subject, the project had to be approved leaving out several controversial elements, like fund segregation and tax discounts for green mining operations.

This has caused some to consider the law a stepping stone, given that there will have to be subsequent laws in order to complement the foundation the current cryptocurrency law offers. On Nov. 29, Isac Costa, a partner of the local law firm Warde Advogados, stated:

Perhaps the law will take up to two years to have any practical effect, which leads me to believe that its approval is a merely symbolic act.

Other global companies have a different view of the subject, considering this as an important step to increase the usage of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment methods in the country. On this, Alex Adelman, CEO of Lolli, a bitcoin rewards app, stated:

Brazil’s move to regulate bitcoin as a payment mechanism sets the stage for greater bitcoin adoption in the country and Latin America at large.

What do you think about the sanction of the cryptocurrency law in Brazil? Tell us in the comment section below.