Brazil’s House of Representatives special committee has issued a “Bitcoin Bill” to legalize the use of $BTC in the country. The country’s Federal MP, Aureo Ribeiro, described Bitcoin as a worldwide currency with the potential to change millions of lives. The public, on the other hand, reacted to this decision and thought it was a negative thing.
Brazil 🇧🇷 presented a bill to regulate #Bitcoin:
Bitcoin is a worldwide currency that will change the lives of millions
– Federal Deputy Aureo Ribeiro pic.twitter.com/8OCoNbgWTh
— Blockworks (@Blockworks_) October 4, 2021
Although Brazil’s recognition of Bitcoin seems to be a very important step for the crypto money world, the public is against this decision. Much of the bill focuses on increasing the penalties for those who commit crypto crimes. Previously, crypto money laundering was punished with 6-10 years in prison, but with the new regulations that came into force, this period is wanted to be increased to 16 years.
“New crypto regulations define crimes with virtual assets, and transactions with virtual assets form the general definition of virtual assets. It also recognizes virtual entities by regulating them.”
MP Riberiro claimed that the new bill would improve investment opportunities in virtual assets as it includes heavy fines and prison sentences.
Brazilians React to the Decision!
While Bitcoin advocates describe the bill as a great sign for crypto adoption, Brazilians think otherwise. One of the citizens responded to a tweet claiming that the new regulations are not a good thing as the new regulations impose heavy taxes on crypto and make banks leaders in setting the rules of the market.
Hi, I’m a lawyer from Brazil and I dont think its actually a good thing. They want to tax crypto and They want to the bank be the leader and say the rules. This were In discussion last week
— Valeria Garcia (@garotacrypto) October 4, 2021
“Hello, I’m a lawyer from Brazil and I don’t think this is a good thing. They want to tax crypto and they want the bank to be the leader and tell the rules.”
Apart from Brazil, Panama has introduced a bill to legalize the use of Bitcoin and Etheruem in the financial market. El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal currency has attracted the attention of many other countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and created a domino effect that will make them follow.