Brazil's incoming finance minister has shelved a planned public consultation on cryptocurrency taxation, deferring a key regulatory question about how crypto transactions will be taxed until at least after October's presidential election.
The decision leaves the fiscal treatment of cryptocurrency movements undefined for the world's fifth-largest crypto market by adoption.
Dario Durigan, 41, took office March 14 after predecessor Fernando Haddad stepped down to run for São Paulo governor.
According to two sources who spoke with Reuters, Durigan intends to conserve political capital in Congress by sidelining divisive fiscal proposals ahead of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's October reelection bid.
What Gets Delayed - and What Doesn't
The shelved consultation was the expected next step after Brazil's central bank finalized rules in November 2025 classifying cryptocurrency movements as foreign exchange operations.
That underlying regulatory framework remains in force, and service providers covered by those rules still face a compliance deadline of November 2026. Only the tax treatment of the transactions those providers facilitate will remain undefined through the election.
A separate proposal to eliminate tax exemptions on investment securities, which stalled in Congress last year, may also be pushed to a new presidential term starting in 2027.
Durigan's stated priorities include big tech regulation, financial institution crisis management, and the Redata data center investment program - areas viewed as politically safer ground.
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The Stakes for Brazil's Crypto Market
Brazil ranks fifth globally and first in Latin America on Chainalysis's 2024 Global Crypto Adoption Index, with roughly $318.8 billion in cryptocurrency value received between July 2024 and June 2025.
In June 2025, the government ended its tax exemption on smaller cryptocurrency transactions, introducing a 17.5% flat tax on crypto capital gains from both domestic and offshore holdings.
The consultation now on hold would have addressed the additional foreign exchange dimension introduced by the central bank's November classification.
Lula, 80, is seeking a fourth non-consecutive term as president. One source told Reuters the crypto tax issue "remains on the radar" but needs to be "handled carefully."
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