"Brazil's Federal Police seized over 71 million reais (nearly $14 million) in cryptocurrency tied to crimes, marking a sixfold increase from 2024. Chainalysis notes that this $14M is a tiny fraction of the $100B in crypto circulating within Brazil's market. Even with the dramatic rise in seizures, the amount remains relatively low compared with the overall volume of digital assets in circulation, and there is no benchmark to determine how much of that circulating crypto is used for criminal purposes."
"To address these flaws, the Central Bank of Brazil relies on Resolution BCB 520 to restrict future market crimes. Brazil has tightened its oversight on cryptocurrency crime, leading to large volumes of digital assets being seized in connection with illegal activity. Data collected by Valor Economico shows that more than 71 million reais in cryptocurrency was seized in connection with crimes, compared with the much smaller amounts seized in 2024."
"Two high-profile cases surfaced last year, with the Federal Police seizing bitcoins and dollar-pegged stablecoins in both. The first case involved a hack targeting a banking system and using Pix and cryptocurrencies as an exit rail for part of the $180 million syphoned. The second case targeted an organization that laundered hundreds of millions linked to the Brazilian so-called Bitcoin Pharaoh, Glaidson Acacio dos Santo, who operated one of the largest cryptocurrency ponzi schemes in Brazil through Gas Consultoria."
"Other criminal groups have also been reported to use cryptocurrency for money laundering, including the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) and the Comando Vermelho (CV). Crypto's main use case for these groups is to send remittances using alternative digital networks and obfuscate the origins of these funds from Brazilian authorities. Even as the number of seizures rose sharply, Chainalysis's commercial director, Drey Dias, said the Brazilian system still faces challenges in digital assets' investigations."
Brazil’s Federal Police seized about 71 million reais (nearly $14 million) in illicit cryptocurrency, six times the amount seized in 2024. The seized value is a small share of the roughly 505 billion reais (about $100 billion) in cryptocurrency circulating in Brazil. Oversight relies on Central Bank Resolution BCB 520 to restrict future market crimes. High-profile cases included a hack of a banking system that used Pix and cryptocurrencies to move part of $180 million, and an investigation into a laundering organization tied to Glaidson Acacio dos Santo and his Gas Consultoria scheme. Criminal groups such as PCC and Comando Vermelho used crypto to send remittances and obscure fund origins, but no benchmark exists to measure how much circulating crypto is criminally used.
Read at news.bitcoin.com
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