Luis Inacio “Lula” Da Silva, the candidate who won the first round of voting in Brazil’s presidential elections by receiving the most votes, has disclosed his position on the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the nation. Lula expressed his support for the Central Bank of Brazil, which in his opinion would be in charge of creating cryptocurrency laws due to its independent nature.
The candidate outlined how this industry has had recent rapid growth, which has caused regulators to pay attention to the problem. According to Lula, this legal framework should aid in preventing unethical trade practices as well as unlawful activities that can be carried out via digital currency, such as money laundering and tax evasion. In order to avoid harming the country’s economy, he also recommended maintaining a watchful eye on the crypto market.
Regardless of the candidate’s claims, the deputy chamber of the Brazilian Congress already has a crypto legislative proposal under consideration. Deputies have been concentrating on the general elections, thus it has not been considered. There is still time for it to be addressed, but if it is pushed off until the next year, a new spokesman would need to be found for the bill, and the new deputies would need to research the projects before they could consider it again.
The approval of the current proposal in the parliament would be postponed by the “learning procedure” after a new president is elected. The bill should have been passed by now, however removal of two articles by a congressman put it under review again. The law might also be overturned by Lula if he wins this month’s elections, as has previously happened in other Latam nations.
Breaking Brazil’s reliance on foreign dollar markets is something Lula has actively supported. In July, Lula declared that if he wins the election, he will support the creation of the SUR as Latam’s official currency (Spanish for south). He made no further comment on the matter, though. The country has plans to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) which “be convertible to any other form of payment currently available”. They are currently in the testing phase of the CBDC.