The requirement by Brazil’s central bank goes into effect Jan. 1, according to a resolution published Friday (Aug. 7) and flagged in a report by CoinDesk.
According to the report, the rules cover deposits made in Brazilian reais, or crypto with an exchange, that a user wants to send abroad or to a wallet they control.
The hold applies to transfers exceeding $10,000, whether that means a sole transaction or multiple transfers in one day. Smaller transfers that exchanges consider risky could also be delayed.
The move is in response to criminals using cryptocurrencies such as stablecoins to move money obtained via fraud before it can be recovered.
The hold is temporary, with exchanges able to release a transfer before 24 hours if they find no signs of wrongdoing, the report added. Exchanges must document that decision and inform customers when a transaction has been placed on hold.
The measure also places more responsibility on exchanges to determine risk based on the customer, transaction, counterparty and destination jurisdiction.
The CoinDesk report cited comments from Regina Pedroso, president of Brazilian tokenization group Abtoken to local news outlet Portal do Bitcoin, saying the policy could place costs on legitimate crypto users and make domestic exchanges less competitive.
Writing about the 15-year history of crypto fraud last month, PYMNTS observed that the evolution of these scams — “from opportunistic hacks to well-organized state-backed deception” — can give enterprises, regulators and financial institutions insight into “the systemic risks lurking beneath crypto’s promise of financial services innovation.”
In the end, that report added, crypto fraud isn’t just about code but about psychology — FOMO (fear of missing out), trust and greed. Many scams succeed because they look legitimate, meaning that employee training on wallet hygiene, phishing and impersonation is as critical in fraud prevention as any firewall.
“The crypto world is not done evolving, and neither are the scams,” PYMNTS added. “But businesses that internalize the lessons of this 15-year arc — from governance and transparency to consumer psychology and ethical design — may be best equipped to navigate the next frontier of digital innovation.”
