Brazil's central bank will impose a 24-hour delay on cryptocurrency transfers above $10,000 sent to self-custody wallets or foreign exchanges, starting in 2027. The anti-fraud measure follows a growing trend of crypto scams, as Brazil's on-chain crypto value has grown to roughly a third of Latin America's total.
Brazil's central bank is tightening cryptocurrency rules to address a growing trend of crypto scams. Starting in 2027, transfers above $10,000 sent to a self-custody wallet or a foreign virtual-asset provider will face a 24-hour delay, and banks will carry out additional risk checks before releasing the funds.
How the $10,000 threshold works
The threshold applies per transaction or to a customer's combined cryptocurrency transfers made in a single day, so several smaller transfers that add up past $10,000 can still trigger the delay. The central bank said the goal is to give institutions more time to spot suspicious activity and stop money linked to scams before it moves beyond recovery.
However, the central bank also emphasized that the rule does not mean freezing or permanently blocking cryptocurrency assets. Legal transactions can still go through once the necessary checks are finished.
Fraud has grown alongside the market
Brazil's on-chain crypto value hit $318 billion between July 2024 and June 2025, roughly one-third of Latin America's total. That growth has also drawn criminal actors.
According to Chainalysis, more than half of the suspected illicit inflows to certain Brazilian exchanges in 2025 were tied to drug traffickers, sanctions evaders, and money-laundering networks operating in China. The value of illicit cryptocurrency climbed from $59 billion in 2024 to $154 billion in 2025. Sanctions evasion alone rose 694% to $104 billion.
Legitimate demand keeps climbing too
Demand for cryptocurrency assets in Brazil rose 135% year over year in H1 2026. It climbed from $6.24 billion in H1 2025 to $14.68 billion. Tether also invested $20 million in Mercado Bitcoin, one of Latin America's largest digital-asset platforms, headquartered in Brazil.
Source: AMBCrypto
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