Brazil is set to follow in the footsteps of its South American counterpart El Salvador by adopting Bitcoin as a legal tender. This move will make it possible for Brazilians to make payments and transactions using this digital currency.
Brazil adoption of Bitcoin
Brazil’s Federal Deputy Aureo Ribeiro has announced that the country is preparing to adopt Bitcoin as a currency. The nation’s lawmakers are set to vote on a cryptocurrency regulation bill which is expected to be presented to the Plenary of the Chamber of Deputies within the next few days.
This bill 2303/15, which also calls for the regulation of virtual currencies, was approved for presentation last week. Once it gets a go-ahead from the Chamber of Deputies this week, Brazil will follow El Salvador’s example, which became the first country in the world to officially adopt Bitcoin.
According to Ribiero, since crypto trading is still largely unregulated, the country will put in place plans to allow for government regulation. The government has also got into an agreement with both, Central Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil (CVM) over specific guidelines for cryptocurrency and digital token issuance.
Apart from approving Bitcoin for payments, the bill also provides some regulations to boost fines related to crypto and money laundering cases. With this, the lawmakers will increase the penalties to two-thirds of the amount laundered and maximum prison time to 16 years.
This idea is to make crypto legitimate and make consumers feel more confident about using Bitcoin for all their activities.
Are Brazilians open to Bitcoin adoption?
Just like in El Salvador, some Brazilians are against the adoption of virtual currency as a legal tender. According to a research, 48% of Brazilians are for Bitcoin adoption, with 31% agreeing and 17% strongly agreeing.
Based on these numbers, more than half the nation is not enticed by this move to use Bitcoin as a national currency. Therefore, even after the bill passes, it might take some time to convince most residents to use this currency for payments and transactions.
The future of cryptocurrency trading in Brazil
Unlike other countries, Brazil has been more accepting and shows positive signs of crypto adoption. In June, the stock exchange launched the trading of a new Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is not the first one this year. The central bank president has also endorsed crypto trading in the country. Therefore, this latest move indicates that the nation is ready to fully adopt virtual currencies.
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