It is expected that the draft law regulating the criptomonedas market in Brazil is approved by the National Congress in the first half of this year, according to reports by Cointelegraph Brazil.
The legislation, which has been debated in the Chamber of Deputies since 2015, has been approved in the first round of consideration. The Senate has attached it to another bill focused on cryptocurrencies, which has already been approved by the Senate Economic Affairs Committee.
Two lawmakers, Senator Irajá Abreu and Deputy Aureo Ribeiro, both rapporteurs of the proposals cited in their respective legislative chambers, are drafting a unified bill to be submitted to the vote of the full text of the Senate.
“I am doing everything in contact with the speaker of the Chamber, who has done a very good job. The Central Bank’s technical team has also been of great help. The texts are similar and converge into one”said Senator Irajá.
Irajá also said that senate president Rodrigo Pacheco is expected to submit the unified bill to a vote in the April plenary. He said:
“At the join projects, accelerate the adoption of this milestone of criptomonedas. There is a demand of the market for business environment safer and the need for a criminal classification to prevent fraud, as well as adjust to Brazil to international agreements” .
The approval of the law in plenary session will not make Bitcoin legal tender in Brazil as it is in El Salvador.
The proposed law would allow the Brazilian president to determine a federal entity responsible for setting the rules for cryptocurrencies. The president would create a new regulator or delegate this function to the Securities Commission (CVM) or the Central Bank of Brazil (BC).
The regulator will define the guidelines of the market and establish standards in line with international standards to prevent money laundering and concealment of assets.
The bill also proposes a sentence of four to eight years in prison, plus a fine for those who commit fraud in the provision of virtual assets.
Another highlight in the bill is a set of incentives for cryptocurrency miners to settle in Brazil. It proposes to exempt from taxes the import of ASICs to the country. However, this might not be enough to attract miners Bitcoin to the country as energy rates in Brazil are among the highest in America South and higher about five times that in countries such as Paraguay and Venezuela.
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