Brazil could recognize cryptocurrency as a legal payment method as a result of a newly proposed amendment to Brazilian law. The proposal also protects investors’ private keys from getting seized by the courts.

Proposal to endorse crypto in Brazil

The latest bill proposed by the Federal Deputy of the country, Paulo Martins, suggests Brazil endorsing Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment method. The detailed proposal is an amendment to Brazil’s existing law – Article 835 of the Civil Procedure Code. 

While the proposed amendment does not necessarily mean that crypto will become legal tender in the country, it will make it easier for the asset class to be used “as a financial asset, means of exchange or payment, or instrument of access to goods and services or investment.”

The bill is sent to Brazil’s legislators, who will undertake discussions before the Senate passes it and the president signs it into law. Furthermore, the plan focuses on protecting users’ private keys and offering new powers and limitations to Brazilian courts if the bill passes and crypto gets recognized as a financial asset.

A surge in crypto adoption

While it’s too early to say whether Brazil will follow in El Salvador’s footsteps to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender, the current plan shows that the country is racing to regulate the crypto industry seriously as adoption hits a tipping point. The country is one of Latin America’s hottest crypto markets. The volume of crypto trading in Brazil has increased dramatically in recent years. As a result, the country’s federal judges are already receiving training on crypto-related issues in expectation of an increase in such court cases. 

The government is aiming to bring a crypto bill by the year-end. In May, the biggest crypto exchange in Brazil, Mercado Bitcoin, partnered with the Stellar Development Foundation to help develop the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).