Cryptocurrencies, Central Bank, and Federal Revenue: what investors need to do now to be 100% compliant

Source: PortaldoBitcoin Original Title: Cryptocurrencies, Central Bank and Federal Revenue: What Investors Need to Do Now to Stay 100% Compliant Original Link: https://portaldobitcoin.uol.com.br/criptomoedas-bc-e-receita-federal-o-que-o-investidor-precisa-fazer-agora-para-ficar-100-legal/

New Regulatory Landscape in Brazil

The combination of new rules from the Central Bank and the Federal Revenue Service has placed Brazilian cryptocurrency investors in front of the biggest regulatory overhaul since the creation of the Cryptoassets Law. In a few months, the country has started to require wallet identification, treated stablecoin and international remittance transactions as foreign exchange, expanded tax reporting obligations, and integrated its standards with the global CARF/OECD model.

The result is a more rigorous, transparent environment with less room for informality. But this new scenario raises a warning: many investors have never declared their cryptocurrencies, others have operated exclusively through international exchanges believing they did not need to report anything to the tax authorities, and there are those who have carried out transactions via P2P their entire lives without any documentation. Now, all these profiles are on the authorities’ radar and need to comply.

Ripio’s head of compliance, risk, and governance, Renata Mancini, summarizes the importance of this regulatory shift by stating that “Brazil is undergoing one of the most significant regulatory movements since the creation of the crypto market.”

She highlights that Central Bank resolutions 519, 520, and 521 created “a model inspired by international standards: prior authorization, asset segregation, robust governance, internal controls, cybersecurity, and minimum requirements for custody.”

At the same time, the Federal Revenue aligned its rules with the CARF, reinforcing “the need for fiscal transparency and traceability.” According to the executive, this set of rules increases investor security by raising the minimum standard required of crypto companies and reducing space for informal operations.

According to a compliance platform, the new Revenue rules, especially the creation of the Cryptoasset Declaration (DeCripto), represent “a fundamental advance in fiscal transparency and integrate Brazil into the international standard for fiscal information exchange.”

The platform also points out that the main goal of the Revenue is to fight tax evasion and consolidate data from different jurisdictions, which means that investors who previously escaped the radar—either by operating outside regulated exchanges or not declaring their operations—are now being monitored.

How the Declaration Rules Work in Brazil

Every investor who owns cryptocurrencies must declare them annually in their Income Tax return, reporting the acquisition cost of the assets, regardless of profit or loss. The obligation applies to those using domestic exchanges, international exchanges, self-custody wallets, or P2P operations.

Additionally, when the taxpayer operates through foreign platforms that do not automatically report to the Federal Revenue, there is also a monthly reporting obligation for operations, especially when the traded volume exceeds the limits provided in the current normative instruction.

Regarding taxes, the capital gains tax rule defines that monthly sales of up to R$35,000 are exempt, while amounts above that are taxed at rates between 15% and 22.5%, according to the profit bracket.

Recently, valid until February 2026, the Special Regime for Asset Updating and Regularization (Rearp) was created. It does not replace these rules; instead, it serves as an extraordinary program aimed at regularizing undeclared assets.

Under this program, a presumed tax of 15% plus an equal penalty (totaling 30%) is levied on the total value of cryptoassets as of December 31, 2024. The taxpayer can pay in full or in up to 36 installments, and regularization extinguishes debts and penalties related to the assets.

Different Investor Cases

Those Using Domestic Exchanges

This is one of the most common profiles in Brazil. Many investors believe that by operating through local brokers, they have automatically fulfilled their obligations. But authorities make it clear that fiscal responsibility always lies with the taxpayer.

Renata Mancini reinforces that the investor should “keep a record of all operations and declare everything in the Income Tax Return, regardless of whether the platform reports or not, the fiscal responsibility is always on the investor.”

With DeCripto, those operating on domestic exchanges need to ensure they are complying with the new reporting obligations, since the system was created precisely to increase transparency and standardize information sharing based on the CARF.

Those Using International Exchanges

For many years, this was the main loophole used by Brazilian investors to operate without reporting transactions to the government. Now, that scenario has completely changed. The Federal Revenue now requires foreign exchanges to report data on Brazilian clients and, even when this does not happen, the investor must declare all their operations on their own.

Renata Mancini warns: “Those using international exchanges need to record all transactions, because these companies do not send data to the Revenue.” Investors using international platforms are now “within the scope of DeCripto,” and their information may be shared between countries, following the global standard for fiscal transparency.

Those Who Operate Fully or Partially via P2P

P2P transactions have always been common in the Brazilian crypto market, especially before the consolidation of local exchanges. But this has never exempted investors from declaring their operations, and now, with the new regulatory framework, enforcement is even more structured.

Using P2P requires extra caution because the goal of the new rules is precisely “to reduce perceived risks and combat evasion.” Even outside exchanges, transactions must be recorded and declared, as Brazil is integrating its systems with the CARF international standard.

Renata emphasizes that investors should keep receipts, record acquisition costs, and declare correctly. Informality, which previously went unnoticed, will now likely be quickly identified through data cross-checking—especially if it involves stablecoins and international operations.

Those Who Have Never Declared Cryptocurrencies

This is the group most exposed to regulatory risk. Many investors bought Bitcoin years ago, stored it in self-custody wallets, or made occasional transactions, believing that declarations were only necessary above certain amounts or only at the time of sale. This has never been true—and now it’s even clearer.

Those who have never declared need to “pay special attention,” because DeCripto strengthens monitoring and increases the Revenue’s supervisory capacity. The goal is to consolidate data and reduce evasion, which puts these investors directly at the center of the new requirements.

Renata Mancini explains that the new regulatory environment creates “more clarity about who is authorized, how assets are protected, how custody works, and what your rights are,” and that investors with a history of informality will need to regularize their situation.

An additional point is that Rearp now exists. The mechanism was created precisely to make life easier for taxpayers who want to adjust their position before being caught in the tax net.

Conclusion

The final message from the authorities is clear: operating cryptocurrencies in Brazil remains permitted, but now within a much more controlled and documented environment. Those who already followed the rules need only adjust some procedures, while those who never declared or operated in gray areas need to act quickly. The phase of the “unsupervised market” is over and regularization is now an essential part of any crypto investor’s strategy in the country.