Brazil has passed a law legalizing cryptocurrencies as means of payment throughout the country. The law provides for the inclusion of virtual currencies and frequent traveler rewards from airlines in the definition of “payment agreements” under the supervision of the country’s Central Bank.
The law gives legal status to payments in cryptocurrencies for goods and services, but does not grant them the status of legal tender. Brazil is currently the country with the most cryptocurrency ETFs in Latin America.
Most of the country’s major banks and brokers currently offer some type of exposure to cryptocurrency investments or similar services like custody or token offerings. Itaú, one of Brazil’s largest private banks, is working to tokenize assets as part of its future pack of services to investors.