Brazilian bitcoin trade booming

Brazil has broken an annual record in trade of bitcoins already this year, having seen over 302,000 of the cryptocurrency change hands between January and September.   

At the current bitcoin price, this amounts to some 10.5bn reais (US$2.56bn), according to Cointrade Monitor. If this pace is maintained, by the end of 2019 domestic exchanges will have traded just over over 400,000 bitcoins, equivalent to US$3.44bn.

Brazil is the largest cryptocurrency market in Latin America. On Wednesday, bitcoins were trading at over 35,000 reais each.

The previous bitcoin trading record was set in 2017, when 8bn reais of transactions were recorded in the country, Cointrade Monitor reported.

Brokerage MercadoBitcoin leads the Brazilian market, with over 98,000 bitcoins traded this year, corresponding to 32.5% of the domestic total.

RULES

Recently, national tax revenue service ruled that cryptocurrency brokers domiciled in Brazil must make monthly reports of certain information about the transactions performed.

Brazil’s lower house has been discussing possible regulations for cryptocurrencies since 2015. A bill introduced that year aims to give the central bank the power to oversee and regulate these types of transactions.

The main concerns are related to money laundering, tax evasion and Ponzi schemes. 

"We must build a transparent environment so that businesses and individuals can operate safely in this market,” the chairman of a congressional committee created to discuss the bill, lawmaker Gustinho Ribeiro, said at a hearing last month.