Brazil Cracks Down on Self-Custody Crypto Transfers with New Reporting Rule

Brazil's Banco Central do Brasil has introduced new regulations for financial institutions to report large crypto transfers involving self-custody wallets. The rule, which comes into effect on October 1, requires regulated institutions to notify the Financial Activities Control Council (Coaf) when sending or receiving virtual assets worth at least $10,000 to a self-custody wallet.

The new provision is part of Brazil's efforts to increase scrutiny and oversight in the country's crypto market. The threshold operates automatically, meaning legitimate transfers between an exchange and a customer's personal wallet can enter Coaf's reporting system solely because they meet the amount and transaction-type criteria.

Brazil's $252.5 billion crypto market is one of the world's largest, with the country ranking first in Chainalysis' 2026 global crypto adoption index. The scale of those flows makes the self-custody threshold commercially significant, particularly for high-value users and trading firms that regularly move assets between regulated platforms and private wallets.