The (BCB) has unveiled a regulatory framework that treats stablecoin purchases, sales, and transfers as foreign exchange operations, effective February 2026. Under the new regime, fiat-pegged virtual assets and certain cross-border wallet transfers will require licensed foreign-exchange institutions or newly defined virtual-asset firms to operate and report them.
The rules extend anti-money-laundering, consumer-protection and governance requirements traditionally imposed on financial institutions to crypto service providers. They also introduce a USD 100,000 cap per transaction involving unlicensed foreign counterparties and require identity verification even for transfers involving self-custody wallets.
The move responds to the central bank’s concerns that roughly 90% of crypto flows in Brazil are linked to stablecoins used for payments and cross-border transfers, creating volatility in capital movements and posing oversight challenges.