Brazil's central bank consultant said stablecoins should be monetary instruments, not crypto. Abcripto opposes as Congress weighs Bill 4308/2024 for stablecoin rules.
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Brazil's central bank told a congressional committee this week that stablecoins should be classified as electronic monetary instruments, a move that would pull them out of the crypto asset framework and into traditional banking regulation. The position, outlined by Fábio Araújo of the Denor department, has drawn pushback from the industry association Abcripto.
Araújo argued that stablecoins, unlike bitcoin or ether, lack the self-contained transferability and scarcity mechanisms that define digital assets. "A stablecoin should be considered a real-world asset and, more precisely, when it presents characteristics compatible with means of payment, it should be understood as a form of monetary instrument," he said during a Tuesday hearing before Congress' Economic Development Committee.
If the classification holds, stablecoin issuers and virtual asset service providers in Brazil would face reserve requirements, capital rules, and oversight similar to payment institutions. The central bank has already issued a resolution that equalizes VASP oversight with that of securities institutions, a step expected to push smaller players out. Adding stablecoin-specific classification would deepen the regulatory burden on firms that operate payment rails.
Abcripto, which groups Binance, Coinbase, Fireblocks, Visa, Tether, OKX, and Ripio, rejected the classification. The association said it would create regulatory overlaps and detach Brazil from international trends. It warned that treating stablecoins as monetary instruments would discourage institutional and retail adoption.
The central bank's stance comes as Congress prepares to debate Bill 4308/2024, introduced by Deputy Aureo Ribeiro, which would set a regulatory framework for stablecoins. No vote has been scheduled. A straight classification as monetary instruments would bring stablecoins under the central bank's exclusive purview, limiting the role of the securities regulator and potentially restricting cross-border use.
Industry participants have pushed for a hybrid model that treats stablecoins as crypto assets for issuance but imposes payment-specific rules on redemption and settlement. Whether that compromise gains traction depends on the committee's amendments to the bill.
Congress has not set a date for a floor vote. The central bank's testimony is not binding but signals the direction it wants regulation to take.
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