BRAZIL
VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider)
BRAZIL: VASP
The Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) published a new set of rules that redefine the regulatory environment applicable to Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs).
The new rules complement
Decree No. 11,563/2023, which regulates
Law No. 14,478/2022 (Legal Framework for Cryptoassets), and establish guidelines for authorization, operation, governance, security, and integration with the foreign exchange market.
Resolutions Nos. 519, 520, and 521 form the core of the new regulatory regime and directly impact both domestic VASPs and foreign entities that provide services to clients in Brazil.
BCB Resolution No. 519/2025 — Authorization, Corporate Structure, and Governance
Resolution No. 519 establishes the formal authorization process for VASPs to operate, aligning them, from a prudential perspective, with financial institutions. Its objective is to guarantee solidity, transparency, and integrity among entities that have intermediate operations with virtual assets in the country.
A Brazilian VASP licence (SPSAV authorization from the Central Bank) gives your platform something very few LATAM jurisdictions can offer right now: clear, bank-style regulation plus a huge, already-digitised market. Law 14.478/2022 created a formal legal framework for virtual assets, and the Central Bank’s new rules (effective from February 2026) plug VASPs into the same governance, transparency and AML/CTF standards that apply to traditional financial institutions. That means legal certainty on what is allowed, how authorisation works, and what supervisors expect from exchanges, brokers and custodians.
Holding a Brazilian VASP licence positions your business as an institutional-grade counterparty. Banks, payment institutions and global partners can justify onboarding a licensed SPSAV much more easily than an unregulated offshore exchange, because the Central Bank now requires robust governance, internal controls, client-asset segregation and detailed reporting. For founders, that translates directly into better access to local banking rails, easier partnerships with card/acquiring players and a stronger story for investors and compliance-sensitive clients.
The licence also opens the door to one of the world’s most dynamic digital-payments environments. Over 170 million Brazilians use Pix, and real-time transfers have already overtaken cards in transaction volume, with around 64 billion Pix payments in 2024 and new features like Pix Automático driving further growth. A regulated VASP can plug into this infrastructure and build products that feel native to Brazilian users: instant on-/off-ramps, local BRL wallets, and crypto services embedded in familiar payment journeys.
Finally, Brazil is emerging as LATAM’s crypto heavyweight. It ranks near the top globally for crypto adoption and now accounts for roughly one-third of all crypto value received in Latin America, with more than US$300 billion in flows and a particularly strong role for stablecoins (around 90% of crypto volume). Operating under a Brazilian licence lets you ride that growth within a clear rulebook instead of in a legal grey zone, and gives foreign founders a credible “Tier-1” LATAM hub that regulators, banks and institutional investors already understand.
In November 2025 the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) issued Resolutions 519, 520 and 521, which implement the 2022 crypto law (Lei 14.478/2022) and create the formal category “Sociedades Prestadoras de Serviços de Ativos Virtuais” (SPSAV/PSAV/VASP)
The rules start applying on 2 February 2026, and pre-existing VASPs must file for BCB authorization as a SPSAV by October 30, 2026.
- Mandatory BCB licence for anyone providing core virtual-asset services in Brazil (exchange, brokerage, custody, transfer, etc.), with fit-and-proper tests for controllers and managers and detailed authorisation processes under Resolution 519.
- Brazilian presence: VASPs must be constituted and headquartered in Brazil; foreign platforms can’t keep serving Brazil from abroad unless they route business through a locally authorised institution or a Brazilian SPSAV.
- Institutional category and capital: new SPSAV category (intermediary, custodian, broker), with minimum paid-in capital between R$ 10.8m and R$ 37.2m depending on the business model and risk.
- Bank-style governance & AML/CTF: robust governance, internal controls, audited financials, PLD/FT policies, transaction monitoring, customer due diligence and suspicious-transaction reporting, essentially mirroring standards for other supervised financial institutions.
- Segregation of client assets & proof of reserves: strict separation between client funds and the VASP’s own funds/crypto, mandatory governance around custody vs. intermediation, and explicit “prova de reservas” (proof of reserves) plus cybersecurity requirements.
- Stablecoins & cross-border flows treated as FX: many stablecoin payments and cross-border crypto transfers are now treated as foreign-exchange operations, with reporting duties and caps (e.g. US$100k limit per transaction with non-authorised counterparties)
Already have a pre-existing VASP Authorized company in Brazil?
We can help your company meet all the compliance requirements.
Also Available: Brazil EMI / PI Licenses
