Whenever a government introduces new regulations, there will be consequences. Brazilian officials have taken a tough stance against cryptocurrency service providers in the country.
It was a matter of time until official crypto regulation came to be in Brazil.
Crypto Regulation in Brazil
It is one of the countries where Bitcoin and other currencies continue to gain a lot of traction.
However, the government doesn’t want to leave this industry unchecked.
Under the new regulation, the going will get tough for certain service providers.
Two local exchanges have already shut down, with more to potentially follow.
Both companies would face serious fines otherwise.
For Acesso Bitcoin, a voluntary shutdown was the only viable course of action.
The company had already noticed a severe dip in trading volume, thus creating less revenue.
Latoex, on the other hand, is facing a hefty fine unless services are suspended immediately.
Other exchanges are currently left alone, albeit that situation may change at any given moment.
Anyone using centralized services in Brazil will have their information reported to the proper authorities.
Further cryptocurrency regulations will likely follow in the weeks and months to come.
Whether this will be beneficial or harmful tot he industry as a whole, is difficult to predict at this time.