Brazil Cracks Down on Crypto VASPs with October Deadline

Brazil's crypto market is one of the largest in the world, ranking fifth globally for real crypto adoption. According to a report from blockchain security firm CertiK, Brazil received $318.8 billion in on-chain value over the twelve months to June 2025. The country's reliance on dollar-pegged tokens, particularly USDT, is significant, with about 80% of declared crypto volume moving through these stablecoins.

The Central Bank of Brazil has set a hard deadline for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to file for authorization by October 30, 2026. This means that companies must prove their security, governance, and operational readiness, rather than simply promising compliance. The entry costs are not small, with minimum capital ranging from about $2 million to $6.7 million.

Foreign firms that served Brazil from offshore shells now have to bring operations onshore within 270 days. The report notes that the regulatory tightening is aimed at ending the era of a Portuguese-language website, global liquidity, and no local presence. As Decrypt previously reported, Tether's USDT is already cashable at 24,000 ATMs across the country.

The Hack3d tracking from CertiK shows that $1.32 billion left the industry to hacks and exploits across 344 incidents in the first half of 2026. Wallet compromises drove $444.5 million of that; phishing took $366.3 million. The report's verdict explains that Brazil's market is 'in which the ability to prove replaces the ability to promise.'