Brazil’s central bank (BCB) has introduced a ban on the use of cryptoassets—including stablecoins—for settling international exchange operations through regulated institutions. The move, which some observers see as a contradiction given the country’s leading crypto adoption in Latin America, is rooted in four core concerns: financial stability, monetary sovereignty, fiscal control, and crime prevention.
Resolution 561, published on April 30, 2026 and effective October 1, 2026, requires electronic foreign exchange providers and other regulated entities to route cross‑border settlements exclusively through traditional forex channels or non‑resident real‑denominated accounts. It does not restrict individuals or businesses from buying, holding, or transferring stablecoins domestically; instead, it severs the ability of authorized financial intermediaries to convert reais into stablecoins as a vehicle for international settlement within their own infrastructure.
The BCB’s rationale spans four areas:
Traceability: Over 90% of Brazil’s crypto volume is in stablecoins, often used for commercial payments. The BCB and the Financial Activities Control Council (COAF) warn this opacity facilitates under‑invoicing, tax evasion, and money laundering. The resolution forces settlements back onto supervised rails, restoring data‑gathering capacity.
Monetary sovereignty: Widespread use of dollar‑backed stablecoins represents a form of parallel dollarization, bypassing the real and undermining the central bank’s ability to manage money supply and exchange rates. The ban reinforces the role of the real and paves the way for Drex, Brazil’s forthcoming central bank digital currency.
Fiscal impact: Authorities estimate annual revenue losses exceeding $30 billion from under‑declared imports settled via unofficial digital channels. Redirecting settlements through formal systems aims to close this avoidance route.
Scale: In the year to mid‑2025, Brazil received $318.8 billion in cryptoasset transactions, up 250% year‑on‑year. Stablecoins now function as a systemic‑scale payment network operating outside the regulatory perimeter, prompting the BCB to act.
The ban follows a series of earlier rules (Resolutions 519‑521, November 2025) that classified stablecoin transactions linked to payments as foreign exchange operations. This gradual approach aligns with international standards from the FATF and the OECD’s Crypto‑Asset Reporting Framework.
Globally, stablecoins are evolving from trading tools into mainstream payment infrastructure. In Q1 2026, stablecoin transfer volume reached $4.5 trillion, driven increasingly by real‑world commerce. Payment firms like Visa are building settlement infrastructure, while Amazon Web Services works with Coinbase and Stripe to support USDC payments for AI agents via the x402 protocol, with settlement times of ~200 milliseconds on Base. The IMF and BIS have simultaneously highlighted efficiency gains and warned of risks to monetary sovereignty, especially in emerging markets. The U.S. GENIUS Act provides a regulatory framework, and Circle’s CEO has predicted a yuan‑backed stablecoin within three to five years. Brazil’s action, therefore, is part of a broader global recalibration: integrating stablecoins into regulated finance rather than leaving them to operate in parallel indefinitely.
