Today in Crypto: Brazilian Lawmakers Move Crypto Transactions Bill Along; UK’s Luxury Furniture Retailer Sees Sales Boost From Crypto-Paying Consumers

The Brazilian Senate’s economic affairs committee Tuesday (Feb. 22) approved a bill legitimizing crypto transactions, CoinDesk reported.

The bill was introduced by Sen. Flávio Arns and still has to be approved by the full Senate and the lower house. If approved, it will designate crypto companies as “virtual service providers” and keeps the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission from supervising crypto, save for initial coin offerings.

It will also let the Brazilian executive branch choose a crypto supervisor.

The bill, if approved, puts the executive branch in charge of authorizing crypto companies to operate, and they’ll have to report suspected money laundering.

Meanwhile, tensions in Ukraine damaged digital currencies, which fell in value Tuesday, a report from CNBC said.

Bitcoin was down 0.5%, and had sunk as low as $36,370 in early morning trading.

The report says analysts believe the drop is a response to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine after declaring them independent.

The move had raised fears of a full invasion. Global stocks in various sectors plummeted.

In other news, Mobilum, a fiat-to-crypto tech company, has signed with Crypto.com to provide token liquidity services using the Mobilum platform, a press release said on Tuesday.

Mobilum’s role will be providing trading research and execution, using its trading platform to boost Crypto.com’s customer experience.

It will also provide Crypto.com with reporting, including summaries and market stats.

Mobilum CEO Wojciech Kaszycki said it’s a “key milestone” for the company,” adding that it will offer customers “an innovative, efficient, scalable and secure digital payments platform.”

Finally, a Tuesday press release from Juliettes, a luxury furniture retailer, noted that crypto users are more likely to buy high-end items as compared to those using fiat currency.

Research from the company, which accepts bitcoin, shows crypto customers’ average order value is $450, compared to $200 for noncrypto customers. Research also shows that 56% of the wealthy customers are investing in crypto.