Brazil holds hearing on Bitcoin regulation

Brazil’s House of Representatives is holding a hearing this week to explore a bill that would give the country’s central bank the power to oversee digital currency activities in the country.

     According to media reports, at the hearing, Antonio Gustavo Rodrigues, head of Brazil's main anti-money laundering unit, the Financial Activities Control Council, advocated for collaboration with other countries and international organizations.

     The hearing was held by the House of Commons Consumer Protection Committee, which is weighing whether to include virtual currencies in the list of “payment protocols” that would come under the central bank’s regulatory purview.

     According to the hearing announcement, speakers include Anselmo Pereira Araujo Neto, a representative from the Central Bank of Brazil; Rocelo Francisco Bezerra Lopes, CEO of CoinBR; Leandro Vilain John from the Brazilian Federation of Banks (BBD); and Guilherme Santos Mello, a researcher at the State University of Campinas.

     During the discussion, Rodrigues explicitly voiced his opposition to regulating digital currencies, stating that “setting up rules will send the message that the currency is a safe bet.” He went on to point out that there has not been any digital currency activity associated with criminal activity in the country, but he also mentioned that Bitcoin ATMs pose a potential risk for money laundering.

     Central bank representative Anselmo Pereira Araujo Neto said that while international examples were important, any regulatory framework must be built in accordance with Brazilian domestic regulations.

He said:

     "We will not simply copy international rules that may not be suitable for our current situation. What we need is to be as transparent as possible, and we will encourage new technologies that conform to the logic of this market."

Governments around the world, including the European Union, are weighing whether to regulate activities involving digital currencies in an effort to prevent the alleged use of the technology for terrorist financing. Earlier this week, it was reported that G7 finance ministers met to discuss the matter, a few months after the group first announced its intention to monitor digital currency activity to "make all financial flows more transparent."