Crypto News: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Signs Crypto Bill Into Law

Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil who is set to leave office on December 31, has signed a bill to legalize the use of cryptocurrency as a payment method in the country.

iexclusivenews reports that Bolsonaro’s office said in a Dec. 22 publication of the official journal of the federal government of Brazil. That the president had signed bill 14.478 into law following approval from the country’s Chamber of Deputies.

This online news outlet understands that on Nov. 29, the legislative body sent the bill to the president’s desk as the final step in recognizing cryptocurrency payments.

According to the bill’s text, residents of Brazil will be able to use cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin BTC $16,850 as legal tender in the country, as is the case in El Salvador.

However, the recently passed law includes many digital currencies among the legal payment methods in Brazil.

It also establishes a licensing regime for virtual asset service providers and establishes penalties for digital asset fraud.

Bolsonaro’s announcement made no mention of which federal agency might be in charge of overseeing cryptocurrency payments.

However, as in the United States, digital assets classified as securities are regulated by Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission.

The law also included provisions, most likely enacted in response to FTX’s demise, requiring exchanges to differentiate between user and company assets.

The cryptocurrency law will go into effect in 180 days, most likely in June 2023.

Bolsonaro is set to leave office in a few days, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, or simply “Lula,” will take over as president on January 1.

However, iexclusivenews Nigeria reports that Lula was Brazil’s president from 2003 to 2010 and has previously spoken out in favor of crypto and blockchain adoption.