Brazil Central Bank Bars Crypto Settlement in Regulated Cross-Border Payments Amid $42.8B H1 Crypto Surge

Context The Banco Central do Brasil issued Resolution BCB No. 561 on April 30, tightening the eFX model that governs digital international payments, purchases, withdrawals and transfers. Under the new rule, any settlement between an eFX provider and its foreign counterparty must occur through traditional foreign‑exchange operations or Brazilian‑real accounts held by non‑residents; regulators prohibit virtual assets such as USDT, USDC or Bitcoin for that leg of the transaction. The change does not outlaw crypto trading or custody in Brazil, but it removes blockchain rails from the supervised payment channel.

Key Facts In the first half of 2025, Brazil’s crypto transaction volume reached 227 billion reais, roughly $42.8 billion, up 20% from the same period a year earlier. Tether (USDT) accounted for about two‑thirds of that flow, while Bitcoin (BTC) represented 11%.

Globally, Bitcoin traded near $27,300, up roughly 15% year‑on‑year, and Tether’s market cap stood near $83.5 billion, representing about 7% of the total crypto market cap of approximately $1.2 trillion. Unauthorized international payment providers in Brazil must obtain central‑bank authorization by May 31 2027; existing authorized eFX firms have until October 30 2026 to update their registration in the Unicad system.

What It Means The rule forces remittance and payment firms to rely on conventional FX rails, increasing compliance costs and potentially slowing settlement times for crypto‑heavy corridors. Market participants may shift volume to unregulated channels or to peer‑to‑peer platforms that operate outside the eFX framework, raising traceability concerns for regulators. Investors should watch how the central bank enforces the May 2027 deadline and whether authorized providers adopt hybrid models that keep crypto exposure off the settlement leg while still serving retail demand.