Brazil Imposes Stricter Crypto Transfer Rules Amid Growing Scam Concerns

Brazil's central bank is implementing stricter anti-fraud regulations for cryptocurrency transfers. The new rules, set to take effect in 2027, will introduce a 24-hour delay for transactions exceeding $10,000 made to self-custody wallets or foreign virtual-asset service providers. This additional time will allow institutions to conduct thorough risk assessments and prevent suspicious activity.

The regulations will be applied to both single transactions and the total amount of a customer's cryptocurrency transfers within a 24-hour period. If several smaller transactions exceed the $10,000 threshold, the rule may come into effect. The central bank aims to stop money connected to financial scams from being transferred past recovery.

Brazil's growing cryptocurrency market has seen significant growth in recent years, with an on-chain value of $318 billion between July 2024 and June 2025, roughly one-third of the total for Latin America. However, this expansion has also drawn criminal actors, with over 50% of suspected illicit inflows to certain Brazilian exchanges in 2025 connected to drug traffickers, sanctions evaders, and money-laundering networks operating in China.