An opinion to Draft Law 2303/2015 wants to make the "issuing, marketing, intermediation and even acceptance as a means of payment" of Bitcoin and other crypto-coins in Brazil a crime.
The opinion of federal deputy Expedito Netto (PSD / RO) extends the original project (authored by deputy Aureo - SD / RJ) to criminalize the crypto-coins. According to the justification of the opinion, "we have an invasion of the monetary system that (...) has grown at surprising speed" and threatens "the monopoly of money issuance" of the Central Bank of Brazil, which causes "serious problems in the scope the defense of the popular economy and consumer protection ".
The rondoniense deputy continues in his critic to criptomoedas like the Bitcoin: "its value stems exclusively from the trust that the individuals have in its emitter" and "in the case of the most well-known criptomoeda of the population, we do not even know who the issuer is, since is decentralized. " The valuation of currencies and possible uses for frauds are also pointed out by the deputy as reasons to prohibit them: "the sudden valuation of crypto-coins in that year 2017 has attracted small savers to this market, exposing them to immeasurable risks. (...) Another effect of this increase in the value of the mentioned coins is the opening of the way for fraudsters who, taking advantage of the good faith of the consumers, develop schemes of pyramids.
Based on this argument, Federal Deputy Expedito Netto (PSD / RO) proposed a new version of the original bill that would make it a crime to "issue, without legal permission, a note, ticket, ticket, voucher or title containing a promise of cash payment to bearer or with a lack of indication of the name of the person to be paid ", with a term of imprisonment of one to six months or a fine, which would also include whoever" without legal permission, issues, interchanges exchange, stores for third parties, currency of legal tender in the country or foreign currency, digital currency, virtual currency or crypto-currency that is not issued by the Central Bank of Brazil. " Anyone who accepted Bitcoin or another criptomoeda as payment would also be considered a criminal with a "penalty of detention, from fifteen days to three months, or a fine."
It should be remembered that the value of fiduciary currencies such as the real also stems from the confidence in the issuer - in this case, the Brazilian government - given that they do not have real ballast (in gold, for example, as in the past). The supply of currencies like the real can be freely expanded by the government, generating inflation (471% since it was created), unlike Bitcoin and many other criptomoedas that have limited supply. Finally, the real is also used to perform pyramid schemes and other crimes.
The opinion of Mr Expedito Netto (PSD / RO) will await five sessions of the Chamber of Deputies to receive amendments before being voted by the Special Committee to examine the issue.