Central Bank of Brazil recognises cryptocurrency as money

The Central Bank of Brazil (Bacen) has officially recognised Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as monetary assets which can be used as a means of payment.

The trading of digital assets by Brazilians will now also be included in the country’s balance of trade statistics, according to an official publication on August 26.

Crypto-assets are now regulated

As indicated by local news outlet Portal do Bitcoin, the nation’s central bank has implemented the guidelines from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) to categorise cryptocurrencies and will now be adding cryptocurrency statistics when calculating the nation’s exports and imports.

Moreover, the central bank also stated that digital currency mining is set to be viewed as a productive procedure.

Roberto Campos Neto, the president of the nation’s central bank, last month guaranteed the growth of new technologies and markets which will enable the financial institution to improve its processes and be more transparent.

Awareness of cryptocurrencies as property should qualify them to be utilised as a payment instrument in the country.

Productive process

The Balance of Payments Statistics Committee, an advisory body on methodology for external sector statistics to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Statistics Department, has recommended classifying the buying and selling of crypto derivatives (specifically those for which there is no issuer) as non-financial assets produced, which implies their compilation in the balance of payments asset account.

According to Bacen, cryptocurrency mining is now “treated as a productive process” following recommendations from the text “Treatment of Crypto Assets in Macroeconomic Statistics”.

Because they are digital, crypto products have no customs registration, but purchases and sales by residents of Brazil imply the conclusion of foreign exchange contracts.