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Today in cryptocurrency, a fresh framework from Brazil’s central financial authority imposes banking-style supervision on crypto firms, broadening Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and foreign exchange (FX) regulations to stablecoins. Additionally, a draft crypto bill was published by a US Senate committee, and crypto funds in the US have been authorized to engage in staking.
Brazil categorizes stablecoin payments as foreign exchange under new regulations
The Banco Central do Brasil has finalized regulations that bring crypto businesses under banking-like governance, defining stablecoin transactions and specific self-custody wallet transfers as foreign-exchange activities.
As per Resolutions 519, 520 and 521, issued on Monday, the Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) established operational standards and authorization procedures for what it dubs Sociedades Prestadoras de Serviços de Ativos Virtuais (SPSAVs), a new class of licensed virtual-asset service providers in the nation.
The framework extends existing regulations on consumer safeguards, transparency, and AML to crypto brokers, custodians, and intermediaries.
The regulations will be enforced starting Feb. 2, 2026, with mandatory reporting for capital-market and cross-border transactions set to commence on May 4, 2026.
The rules also include transfers to and from self-custodied wallets when facilitated by a service provider. This requires providers to identify the wallet owner and uphold their verification processes regarding the origin and destination of the assets, even if the transfer itself is not cross-border.
Senate Agriculture Committee releases preliminary crypto market bill
The US Senate Agriculture Committee unveiled its long-awaited discussion draft concerning crypto market structure laws on Monday, inching Congress closer to enacting legislation that delineates how the crypto industry will be governed.
The draft highlighted sections that lawmakers are still deliberating, and Democrats indicated that the Committee lacks jurisdiction over certain aspects and expressed interest in collaborating with the Senate Banking Committee to “address matters related to noncontrolling blockchain developers and providers of blockchain services.”
The bill strives to clarify the boundaries of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s authority in regulating crypto. The Agriculture Committee oversees the CFTC, while the Senate Banking Committee is handling sections of the bill pertaining to securities laws, as it supervises the SEC.
Democrat Senator Cory Booker, who collaborated on the draft with Republican Agriculture Chair John Boozman, stated that the discussion draft “would endow the CFTC with new power to regulate the digital commodity spot market, establish new safeguards for retail consumers, and ensure the agency possesses the personnel and resources essential to oversee this expanding market.”
US paves way for crypto ETFs and trusts to acquire staking rewards
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the nation’s tax collection agency under the Department of the Treasury, has revised its guidance for cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) to include a safe harbor for trusts to stake digital assets.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mentioned in a Monday X post that the agencies released guidance providing crypto ETPs “a clear route to stake digital assets and distribute staking rewards with their retail investors.”
Per the guidance available on the IRS website, governmental agencies would permit crypto trusts to engage in staking, contingent upon being traded on a national securities exchange, only holding cash and “units of a single variety of digital asset,” managed by a custodian, and mitigating specific risks to investors.
“The impact on staking adoption should be considerable,” noted Bill Hughes, senior counsel at Consensys, in a Monday X post.
“This safe harbor offers much-anticipated regulatory and tax clarity for institutional products like crypto ETFs and trusts, allowing them to partake in staking while remaining compliant,” Hughes articulated. “It effectively alleviates a significant legal obstacle that had deterred fund sponsors, custodians, and asset managers from incorporating staking yield into regulated investment offerings.”
This guidance followed the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September, approving generic listing standards, which is expected to facilitate the approval of crypto exchange-traded funds. The IRS and Treasury referenced the SEC rule alteration as part of the revised guidance.
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