Brazil's Deadline for Crypto Firms to Seek Central Bank Authorisation Passes Without Extension

The deadline for virtual asset service providers already operating in Brazil to apply to the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) for authorisation ended on Friday, 30 October 2026, and the BCB did not extend it. No resolution or normative instruction changing the date appears in the BCB's database of regulations, checked on 31 October. The next date is 6 November 2026, when banks, payment institutions and other BCB-authorised institutions may no longer carry out or enable virtual asset operations with providers that are not authorised to operate in Brazil.

The BCB has not published how many firms applied, and it has not yet published the official list of institutions in transition that it said it would prepare before 6 November.

Who Had to Act by 30 October

Law 14,478 of 2022 requires virtual asset service providers to hold prior authorisation to operate in Brazil and lets the regulator set adaptation periods of at least six months for firms already active. Decree 11,563 of 2023 gave that role to the BCB. Resolution BCB 520, in force since 2 February 2026, gave companies that were already providing virtual asset services on that date 270 days to apply for authorisation (article 88, item I). Normative Instruction BCB 704 (article 9) required the phase 1 application, with its forms and declarations, to be filed by 30 October 2026.

A firm that filed on time may keep providing its services until its authorisation process is concluded, but may not take on another type of service in the meantime (article 88, paragraph 6). A firm that did not file must stop providing virtual asset services within 30 days of the deadline (paragraph 7), which points to 29 November 2026.

The same 270-day period applied to two other groups. Banks, securities brokers and distributors and foreign exchange brokers that were already active in the market had to send a formal communication to the BCB, with an independent technical certification; those that did not may continue for up to 30 days after the deadline (article 22). Entities set up abroad that serve Brazilian clients and want to keep operating had to transfer their operations and clients to an eligible local institution or to a Brazilian provider (SPSAV), respecting continuity, security, transparency and clients' informed consent (article 23).

What Changes for Banks and Payment Firms on 6 November

Article 91 of Resolution 520, as rewritten by Resolution BCB 589 of 23 September 2026, prohibits financial institutions, payment institutions and other institutions authorised by the BCB, from 6 November 2026, from carrying out or enabling virtual asset operations whose counterparties are institutions or entities that provide virtual asset services and “are not authorised to operate in the country” by the BCB, except in the forms the resolution expressly allows. The ban covers trading, intermediation and custody of virtual assets, foreign exchange operations, opening and keeping payment accounts and making payment transactions, among other acts, when used to enable those operations.

The original article 91 set the ban from 30 October 2026 and excluded providers that were authorised “or in the process of authorisation”. The new wording no longer mentions providers in the process of authorisation. In Vote 108/2026, which proposed the change, the BCB's regulation director said the extra week would allow the BCB to systematise and publish the official list of institutions in transition, covering providers that filed applications and eligible institutions that notified their intention to act in the market. Neither the resolution nor the vote states how institutions should treat firms on that list.

What Happens Next

Banks and payment firms that hold accounts for, or process payments for, crypto providers face the 6 November date first, and the transition list is the document they are waiting for. Clients of a provider that did not file may see its services wind down by late November. Clients of a provider that did file can expect it to keep operating while the BCB reviews the case.

The adaptation period for each applicant ends when the BCB rules on phase 1 of its process, after which the firm must comply fully with the law and BCB rules even before a final decision (article 88, paragraphs 1 and 3). As of 31 October, the BCB's list of institutions in operation contained no institution classified as a virtual asset service provider. The BCB's open data on authorisation processes still has a latest reference date of 30 September 2026, when it showed seven open processes for the SPSAV segment; the October data, which would include filings made close to the deadline, has not yet been released. Separate data-reporting changes for applicants and eligible institutions apply from 1 January 2027.