Bill regulating cryptocurrency exchanges

The Brazilian Congress will debate a bill governing cryptocurrency companies and boosting penalties for crypto pyramid schemes and other unlawful activity.

The bill tabled on September 29 was already authorized by a special commission of the Brazilian House of Representatives. If approved by the plenary, the legislation, introduced by deputy Aureo Ribeiro, would require “virtual asset service providers to follow rules of communication of financial transactions, with identification of customers and record-keeping. The law would also strengthen penalties for money laundering violations performed with virtual currencies like bitcoin.

According to the chamber’s website, the penalty for money laundering in Brazil is imprisonment for three to ten years and a fine. If the bill passes, the liability for crypto-related fraud will range from four to more than sixteen years in prison, including a fine.

About fine

The law would give enterprises in the industry 180 days to adapt to the new rules. The law is rolling out as an increasing number of Brazilians invest in cryptocurrency and public awareness develops. Joo Manoel Pinho de Mello, Director of the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB), recently stated that a considerable shift from paper currency to digital payment would occur in the coming years. Roberto Campos Neto is the country’s head central banker. According to him, his country could be ready for a digital currency by 2022.

In July, Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil’s largest crypto exchange, raised $200 million in a Series B investment from the SoftBank Latin America Fund, becoming the country’s first crypto unicorn with a $2.1 billion value.

Ribeiro’s bill applies to companies that, among other things, enable the exchange of virtual assets for national or foreign currency, or between one or more virtual assets, assist with the transfer of virtual assets that provide control over virtual assets.

According to the website, this will occur within the scope of a regulation published by an agency or entity. These will be selected by the country’s executive branch. The House of Representatives declares that they must debate the motion in a general session. Only after this can the lower house debate it, but they did not establish a date for that debate.

Crypto markets ignite

Four developing altcoins have surged 101 percent or more in the last week. Bitcoin (BTC) and the crypto markets erupt.

Shiba Inu, a meme cryptocurrency and Dogecoin (DOGE) competitor, has recently become one of the most popular coins (SHIB).

The altcoin soared from a low of $0.000006 to a high of $0.00002 in just seven days. Representing gains of over 233 percent.

SHIB has been unable to recapture its all-time high of $0.000037, despite a strong rally.

Spell Token (SPELL), the governance and utility asset of decentralized finance technology Abracadabra Money, is another top-performing altcoin this week. OMG Network (OMG), a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, is the fourth altcoin on the rise (ETH). In just one week, the fledgling altcoin soared from a low of $8.95 to a high of $17.88. Representing a gain of 101 percent.