Banks and brokerage firms seeking to perform virtual assets service provisions (VASPs) activities in Brazil, as per the provisions of Brazilian Central Bank’s Resolution No. 520/2025, should be aware of the new regulation, IN 701/2026, which comes into effect on February 2nd (“Instruction”).
To comply with the Central Bank’s requirements, we highlight below the main requirements of the new Instruction:
1. Independently Issued Technical Certification: The issuance of the technical opinion on technological and regulatory capacity to be prepared by the certifier must comply with a list of guidelines that will demonstrate the applicant’s compliance for the VASPs license.
2. Essential Content of the Opinion: The certification opinion issued by a qualified and independent firm must indicate, in detail, the applicant’s compliance with respect to the segregation of the VASPs company’s and its clients’ virtual assets, and the substantiation of the virtual assets that the VASPs company declares to hold on behalf of its clients.
3. Additional Requirements for the Certification: The opinion must also address evidence demonstrating the applicant’s compliance with other technical, technological, operational and regulatory elements required of other participants in the Brazilian financial system, with emphasis on specifying any relevant contracted services and the technical and regulatory capacity of third parties (infrastructure providers).
Although the Instruction does not expressly specify which entities may act as qualified and independent certifiers, the market anticipates that appropriate profiles will include global audit firms with crypto asset practices, consulting firms with expertise in the segment, and specialist consultancies in information security, DLT systems and custody-control frameworks.
Upon certification, financial and nonfinancial institutions already authorized to operate by BACEN may notify their interest in conducting VASPs activities and may commence the provision of services within 90 (ninety) days from such formal notice, without the need to comply with all other requirements applicable to ordinary VASPs.
