Brazil Crypto Report

Luiz Hadad is a blockchain researcher at Sherlock Communications, where he publishes a comprehensive annual report on blockchain adoption in Latin America. In this conversation, we discuss the key findings of the 2024 edition of the report.

João Kury is the co-founder of Modular Crypto, which provides Portuguese language educational content about Web3 technology. In this conversation, we discuss João's learnings from ETH Denver, the current state of the modular vs monolithic blockchain rivalry, and his work to bring more local language content and meetups to Brazil.

Michael J. Casey is a renowned journalist, author and speaker in the blockchain and cryptocurrency world. He has served as Chief Content Officer at CoinDesk, an advisor to the MIT Media Lab and Digital Currency and as a capital markets reporter at Wall Street Journal.

also He spent six years in Argentina covering financial markets during the 2000s, an experience that led him down the bitcoin rabbit hole.

Fabricio Tota is the head of new business at Mercado Bitcoin. In this episode we discuss MB's push to tokenize R$1 billion worth of assets in 2024, how the exchange weathered the bear market, and the recent surge in memecoin volume

Thiago Barbosa is an attorney with Salles Nogueira Advogados and an expert on crypto taxation issues in Brazil. In this episode, we discuss a new law mandating that income derived from crypto assets held with overseas exchanges or custodians be taxed at a 15% clip. We dive into the nuances, misconceptions and problems resulting from this rule change.

Vance is the founder of My Latin Life, a platform that has been helping gringos navigate life in Latin America for more than a decade. We talk about how crypto and remote work has opened the door for North Americans and Europeans to pursue life in Latin America in the post-Covid era.

Luca Cosivi is one of the organizers of Rio Onchain Week, which is a Web3 builder-focused series of events happening March 19-24. The week is being modeled after Devconnect, the popular developer-focused conference hosted by the Ethereum Foundation.

Luca explains how the week will feature numerous builder-focused community events, with the second annual ETHSamba hackathon as the capstone.

Today we have a Brazil-focused ETHDenver roundtable featuring Fuse Capital João Zecchin, Tansi Head of Growth Thiago Rudiger and Cartesi Head of Business Development Bruno Maia

We discuss the vibe at this year's event and how it compares to prior years, major event themes like DePIN, RWAs, airdrop farming and modular vs monolithic blockchains

Jason Lau is Chief Innovation Officer and Guilherme Sacamone is Director General for Brazil at OKX, one of the world's largest crypto exchanges specializing in spot and derivatives trading. We discuss OKX's 2024 push into emerging markets across the Latam region, as well as its new product suite which includes a Web3 wallet, an Ordinals marketplace and a forthcoming Layer 2 blockchain

Fábio Plein is regional managing director for the Americas at Coinbase, where he overseas the exchange's operations in Canada, Brazil and the rest of the region outside of the US.

In this conversation, we discuss Coinbase's go-to-market and expansion plans for Brazil, its approach to navigating Brazil's regulatory environment and Fabio's previous experience operationalizing Uber in Brazil

Vugar Usi is the Chief Operating Officer of Bitget, which is one of the world's largest crypto exchanges - most recognized for its partnership with football superstar Lionel Messi. In this conversation, we discuss Bitget's push to expand its presence in Brazil and Latin America in 2024

Fábio Araujo is an economist and engineer at the Central Bank of Brazil, where he serves as the coordinator of the Drex project.

Drex is an ambitious hybrid wholesale/retail CBDC and tokenization platform that, if it proves successful, will be the infrastructure for a tokenized economy in Brazil.

In this interview, Araujo provides a comprehensive overview of the project and its ambitions, while giving an update on the 2024 roadmap ahead.

Guto Antunes is head of digital assets at Itaú, which is Brazil's largest bank. In this episode, we discuss talk about the bank's four-pronged strategy to digital assets in 2024. This touches tokenization, custody, the recently launched ion crypto brokerage and the Drex CBDC project.

Rafael Castaneda is a computer scientist, professor, community builder and self-described "techno-philosopher" sitting at the intersection of technology, ethics and futurism. He is the founder and host of the popular "Casta Crypto" channel and the Casta Guild, which provides Web3 training and education for its members. In this expansive conversation we discuss how crypto enables new forms of human socio-political coordination, market trends for 2024, Brazil's Drex CBDC project. This episode is not to be missed!

Rocelo Lopes is a veteran bitcoin miner, payments executive and one of Brazil Crypto Report's 2023 Most Influential selections. In this episode, we discuss his experience operating Latam's first commercial bitcoin mining operation in Paraguay, and his current project Smartpay - which allows users to send and receive payments in USDT using Brazil's popular Pix instant payment network.

Helo Passos is the CEO and founder of Trexx, a startup dedicated to fostering blockchain game development and communities in Brazil. Previously, she built Latin America’s largest Axie Infinity community - which comprised 30,000 members at its peak.

Helo was named to BCR’s 🏆 Top 10 Most Influential list for 2023 for her contributions to building and advancing Brazil’s blockchain gaming space.

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In this episode, we reveal the results of our 2023 Most Influential Series. With your input, we identified the 10 individuals who had the most impact on the Brazil crypto and digital asset world in 2023.

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Alessandro Rossi Martins is a partner at Machado Meyer Advogados, where she looks after the firm's crypto and fintech practice. In this episode, we discuss the Brazilian Central Bank's public consultation for crypto asset regulation, which was released Thursday, December 14. We dive into the content, objectives and next steps of the BC's rulemaking process for regulating crypto markets and VASPs in Brazil.

Seamus Rocca is CEO of Xapo Bank, which has been a pioneer in the realm of "bitcoin banking" for 10 years since being founded by the iconic Argentine entrepreneur and bitcoin promoter Wences Casares. In this episode, we talk about how the iconic company has transformed itself into a full-service bitcoin native banking operation for global clients

Alexandre Vasarhelyi is the chief investment officer at BLP Crypto, which is Brazil's oldest crypto-native investment fund. In this episode we discuss CVM Resolution 175, which streamlines the process for Brazilian investment funds keen allocate into bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The co-founder of ONG Bitcoin Argentina and the CEO of Bitso Argentina discuss what the Javier Milei presidential administration could mean for the country's crypto economy

Sebastian Serrano is the CEO of Ripio, one of Latin America's largest and longest-running crypto exchanges. In this episode, we discuss Javier Milei's surprise victory in Argentina's presidential election. Serrano argues that Milei is not necessarily a "bitcoiner" or even "pro-bitcoin", but rather his libertarian views and Austrian school economics background overlap significantly with the traditional bitcoiner worldview.

Thomas Bohner is the CEO of Credix, which is a decentralized credit marketplace that connects institutional investors with fintechs and non-bank lenders in Brazil and Latin America.

The company now enables more than 10,000 small borrowers, primarily in Brazil but also in Colombia and Mexico, to access US$40 million in loans that would have otherwise been unattainable or unaffordable.

Thomas’ ambitious goal for 2024 is to grow Credix’s loan book to US$100 million and provide financing to 100,000 SMEs by the end of the year

Kim Grauer is the director of research at Chainalysis, where she authors the blockchain analytics firm's annual Geography of Cryptocurrency report. This report is the most comprehensive analysis of crypto usage and adoption around the world, and provides incredible insights into the growing crypto economy in Brazil and Latin America. We discuss the methodology behind the report and Kim's key findings

Michael Coscetta is chief revenue officer at Paxos, a blockchain and digital asset infrastructure platform valued at US$2.4 billion as of its last fundraise in 2021. In this episode, we discuss Paxos's enterprise infrastructure solutions that cater to large, regulated financial companies by offering services like white label stablecoins, tokenization, custody and trading. We also discuss why Brazil and Latin America are now among the firm's key growth markets in the coming years

Daniel de Paiva Gomes is an attorney and one of the leading experts on crypto taxation issues in the Brazilian market. In this episode, we discuss why Brazil's taxation regime for cryptocurrencies is one of the most developed in the world, and why concerns over a new piece of tax legislation moving through Congress are likely overstated

João Aragão Pereira is a senior technology specialist at Microsoft, focusing on financial services in Latin America. João has been heavily involved in the architecture of Brazilian Central Bank's Drex CBDC project, as well as other CBDC projects being developed by other countries around the world.

In this episode, we discuss Microsoft's involvement in Drex, particularly how its Regulated Liability Network structure could facilitate interoperable and secure transactions with tokenized assets on the platform

A special congressional committee investigating cryptocurrency pyramids (known as the CPI) officially concluded this week with a scathing report urging the indictment of four Binance executives. The alleged crimes include fraudulent management, operating an unauthorized financial institution and crimes against the the financial system, among others.

To help us better understand the committee’s recommendations and next steps, I am joined by Portal do Bitcoin reporter Fernando Martines and Mercado Bitcoin executive Daniel Cunha.

Alexandre is CEO of Sonica, a no-code platform for building and deploying Web3 products. We discuss the growing popularity of no-code platforms, the need for such tooling in the world of Web3, the product market fit of NFTs and loyalty tokens when used correctly, and why he isn't concerned about the current downturn in the NFT market

Jean-Michel Guillot is head of product for blockchain and digital assets at Dinamo Networks, a digital security firm that provides the cryptographic solutions used in PIX and other payments technology. In this episode, recorded onsite at Blockchain Rio in September, we discuss Dinamo's role in the Drex pilot, in securing 150 million Pix transactions per day and in its broader play across crypto and Web3.

Nesse especial episodio "crossover" do Brazil Crypto Report e Let's Crypto, Felipe e eu falamos con Rodrigoh Henriques - director da innovação do Fenasbac. Rodrigoh e o equipe dele tem sido muito envolvido nas todas areas da innovação financeira promulgado pelo Banco Central do Brasil - comecando com Open Finance, Pix e agora Drex. Rodrigoh discuta o papel do Fenasbac e o LIFT Challenge - que realmente funciona como um CBDC sandbox pra testar novos produtos e serviços no ecosistema do Drex.

Taynaah Reis is a Brazilian coder, entrepreneur and activist. In this episode, we discuss how she learned to code at 12 years old, started her first company at 16, and her various entrepreneurial initiatives making use of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. These include Moeda Seeds - a crypto-powered microcredit platform that was one of the first crypto projects in Brazil, financial education platform Inkluziva and O2 Foundation - which is building a carbon credit marketplace.

Taynaah was a named a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer in 2023

Robert Materazzi is CEO of Lukka, which is a unicorn crypto data services company valued at US$1.3 billion. After starting as “Turbotax for Crypto” product 10 years ago that helped retail crypto holders figure out their tax obligations, Lukka has built itself into a unicorn enterprise crypto data services company offering institutional-grade accounting, audit and data products. In this conversation, we discuss Lukka's product suite, growth trajectory and interest in the Brazil market

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Daniel Lynch is head of Metamask Institutional partnerships at Consensys and also looks after sales and business development for Brazil and Latam. In this episode, we discuss the results of a recent survey conducted by Consensys exploring Brazilians' attitudes towards Web3, and adoption for both Metamask and Metamask Institutional in Brazil

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Marcos Viriato is CEO of Parfin, a leading Web3 and blockchain infrastructure firm in Latin America. A former partner at BTG Pactual, Marcos believes that mass institutional adoption of crypto and blockchain-based assets will need to occur on permissioned networks and solutions. With its Parfin Terminal, tokenization, and MPC and crypto-as-a-service offerings, Parfin is providing this infrastructure for institutions in the region and around the world.

AWS and Antonio dissect the week's biggest stories from the Brazil crypto universe. Stories in this week's episode include:

Maria Gabriela Damiani is a Technical Advisor to the President at the Commissão dos Valores Imobiliários (CVM), also known as the Brazilian version of the SEC. In this episode we discuss the CVM's approach to digital asset regulation and how it differs from the approaches take by other countries. We also dive into some thorny discussion topics such as the line between investor protection and consumer protection, the legality of fixed-income tokens and Brazil's interpretation of the Howey Test

Mayra Siqueira is the Brazil community manager for the Algorand Foundation. In this episode we discuss Mayra's trajectory from journalism, to being Binance's first employee in Brazil and then ultimately to working on Algorand - a Layer 1 blockchain developed by renowned computer scientist and Turing Award winner Silvio Micali

We discuss the variety of use cases and applications being built on Algorand in Latin America, including tokenized commodities and NFT airplane tickets, and the types of programs and support Algorand Foundation offers for builders and developers in the region.

On this edition of the BCR Weekly Recap, AWS and co-host Antonio Neto look at the week's big stories, including:

• the Brazilian Central Bank's surprise announcements that it will suspend its Lift Lab accelerator program and delay the first phase of its Digital Real (Drex) pilot by three months
• Binance's launch of Binance Pay in Brazil and cancelation of its debit card partnership with Mastercard
• The CPI committee on financial pyramids' relentless pursuit of celebrities and influencers that promoted cryptocurrency pyramid schemes
• BTG Pactual is launching a new prime custody service targeted at institutions
• Lula renews his push for a de-dollarized world by pushing a single BRICS currency
• A data breach at FTX, adding insult to injury to former clients

Bruno Ramos de Sousa is head of US and Europe at Hashdex, one of the largest crypto asset managers in the world that offers ETFs and other exchange traded products in several markets. Contrary to the prevailing market narrative that a bitcoin ETF approval in the US is imminent, Bruno argues that landscape in the US has not fundamentally changed despite recent filings by Blackrock and other large TradFi players.

Nicky Dyskant is one of the top fintech and capital markets lawyers in Brazil. In this conversation we discuss her role as an advisor to several key crypto companies operating in the country - including Fireblocks, 2TM, Vórtx QR Tokenizadora and Hashdex. We dive into her purview on Drex (formerly Digital Real), the crypto regulatory framework currently being developed by the Brazilian Central Bank and the current environment for security tokens and fixed income tokens in the country.

Leandro Pereira is head of growth for Latam at Paysafe and a 10 year veteran of the Brazil crypto scene.

We discuss Leandro’s trajectory in the ecosystem and Paysafe's payments infrastructure in the region, which includes a digital wallet, debit and credit card products and APIs for connecting alternative payment methods. Paysafe's crypto payments stack also provides fiat on and off-ramp services, which has seen uptake among igaming and internet casino operators in the region.

We also talk about Borderless Money, a DeFi for charity project that Leandro co-founded that donates yield generated in DeFi protocols to social causes.

Rai Auad is one of the top independent Web3 educators and content creators in Brazil. In this episode we talk about how Rai got her start in crypto via Axie Infinity and other crypto games in 2021 before quitting her job at Itaú to become a full-time content creator in the space. We discuss how she engages her audience across different platforms and channels, as well as the ups and downs of being a YouTube and social media personality.

Gean Chu is a partner at Honey Island Capital, a Curitiba-based venture firm founded by veterans of Ebanx. In this conversation we discuss Honey Island's fintech investment theses and Gean's new Web3 fund focused on liquid tokens and on-chain strategies like staking, farming and liquidity provision

It's been a rough few months for the crypto custody world. Ledger sparked a backlash with a controversial key recovery proposal, regulated custodian Prime Trust was put into receivership by the state of Nevada following allegations it misused customer funds, and Nasdaq backed away from plans to launch its own crypto custody service.

Composecure CPO Adam Lowe joins the show to discuss the crypto custody challenges and potential solutions. Composecure is a leading manufacturer of high-end metal payment cards and authentication technologies. It is also the manufacturer of the Arculus hardware wallet, which features three-factor authentication and military-grade cryptography and focuses on delivering on safety, simplicity and security and and how this solution addresses the crypto industry's ongoing custody woes.

Adam discusses Arculus's dual key solution for retail customers, as well as its B2B white label solution - which has partnerships already established in Asia and Latam.

Renan Kruger is a digital asset specialist at Santander Brasil, one of Brazil's largest banks and one that is actively involved in the country's budding digital asset space. This episode was recorded live at Digital Finance Brasil on June 22 at the University of São Paulo. We discuss:

• how Santander Brasil is studying the digital asset market and regulatory ecosystem in the country
• the bank's participation in the Brazilian Central Bank's Digital Real pilot program, particularly how it will test a blockchain-enabled delivery-versus-payment method for tokenized government bonds
• how the Digital Real ecosystem will change the relationship between banks and investors while making investments more transparent and accessible.
• a future in which every consumer will have two kinds of accounts in their bank app: a digital account for tokenized assets and a traditional account for transferring money.