In an attempt to fight against the falsification of university diplomas in Brazil, the Ministry of Education (MEC) has proposed, creating a Blockchain-based platform to issue digital certifications among non-state universities. According to Cointelegraph Brazil, MEC minister Abraham Weintraub has raised this possibility, which also seeks to create cohesion between diplomas and thus generate a space for self-regulation. To finance the creation of the platform, Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico has said that the resources will come from the private educational institutions themselves since they will be exclusively responsible for issuing diplomas. Private universities to fund the blockchain platform Also, for …

Legendary soccer player Ronaldinho Gaúcho was ‘arrested’ trying to enter Paraguay with a fake passport. One of the greatest soccer players in the history of the sport and now under investigation for participation in companies accused of running cryptocurrency scams using his name, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, was detained on March 4, in Paraguay, according to Cointelegraph Brazil. The Paraguayan National Police reportedly entered the hotel suite where the former ace was staying at the Paraguay Golf Club and found two false Paraguayan passports in his name and his brother Roberto de Assis Moreira’s. The player went to the country to participate …

The Central Bank of Brazil made some waves last week with its new instant payment system. While not blockchain-based, the new system, dubbed PIX, nevertheless is imbued with some of blockchain’s core attributes. Money transfers have historically been slow, cumbersome and expensive. For example, Bank A takes its fee when a payment is sent and Bank B also charges its fee when the payment is received. More intermediaries mean additional fees and sometimes more delays. But now the Brazilian central bank, or BCB, wants to cut out those intermediaries. The central bank will enable peer-to-peer and business-to-business transactions in 10 …

The Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) has announced a plan to launch a new near-instant payment system during November. Cointelegraph Brasil reported on Feb, 20 that the platform, called the Brazilian Instant Payment Scheme (PIX), will facilitate peer-to-peer and business-to-business transactions in 10 seconds or less via mobile phone, internet banking, or select ATMs. According to a press release published Feb. 20, It is mandatory for all financial and payment institutions licenced by the BCB to provide their 500,000 active customer accounts with the functionalities required to facilitate PIX transfers. The release states that transactions will be executed by using …

Tax authorities in Brazil have been more active in regulating the crypto market resulting in what one observer has called a cooling of the market for smaller exchanges. Following new application of new tax norms in August 2019, Brazil has recently seen some of the results of those actions. Cointelegraph Brasil reported that two major cryptocurrency exchanges based in the South American nation have been shut down following threats of heavy fines and the immediate effects of the regulations. Acesso Bitcoin was one of the exchanges to voluntarily close their doors. Cofounder Pedro Nunes reportedly blamed the new tax rules …

Eleven years after Bitcoin's release, Cointelegraph caught up with Adam Back to discuss the early years of Bitcoin, his emails with Satoshi Nakamoto, privacy and much more. The Blockstream CEO, who spoke to Cointelegraph at the Latin American crypto event LaBitconf in Uruguay, is a developer and cryptographer known for inventing Hashcash, a predecessor of the proof-of-work system used by Bitcoin. Back also dismissed the idea that he is the father of Bitcoin and said he didn’t help Satoshi create the world’s first cryptocurrency, despite confirming he was probably the first person Satoshi talked to about Bitcoin when he sent …

Bitcoin (BTC) scammers may be abandoning the cryptocurrency to focus on extorting money via prepaid debit cards, a new study suggests. Revealing its findings in a blog post on Dec. 16, cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab highlighted a growing trend in Brazil as an example of hackers’ growing taste for prepaid cards. Prepaid cards’ international appeal Specifically, a so-called “sextortion” scam — demanding a victim pay money to avoid compromising information about his or her private life going public — targets Acesso cards in the country. “The debit cards in this particular sextortion scheme — Acesso cards — are sold in …

Binance, the leading global cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and users, today announced the launch of its fiat gateway for Latin America. The announcement was made during laBitConf, a major crypto event for Latin America held in Montevideo, Uruguay. The new platform, named Latamex, will operate under the Binance Fiat Gateway and will allow Binance’s Latin American users to purchase cryptocurrency directly in association with Settle Network, a Latin American digital asset liquidation network. The new platform will initially be launched in Argentina and Brazil, allowing the direct purchase of cryptocurrencies using Argentine pesos and Brazilian reals. Users will be …

Brazil's tax agency, the Department of Federal Revenue (RFB), published a new tax code that specifies fines for taxpayers who fail to declare their Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency transactions. On Dec. 6, Cointelegraph Brasil reported that the new crypto tax code is a further follow-up to provisions made by the RFB in August that require Brazilian citizens to report all transactions involving cryptocurrencies, in accordance with rules established by Normative Instruction 1,888 introduced in May 2019. The already implemented tax code applies to individuals, companies and brokerages, and includes all crypto-related activities, including buying and selling, as well as donations, …

According to one official in attendance, members of international association BRICS discussed the creation of a new cryptocurrency at a recent summit. On Nov. 14, Russian financial news outlet RBC reported that the director-general of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said that the BRICS Business Council supported the idea of creating a single payment system for settlements between the member countries at the 11th annual BRICS Summit in 2019, held in Brazil. Creating a “BRICS” cryptocurrency? The member nations — namely, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — are reportedly planning to develop a single payment …

Brazil has seen another tumultuous week in the cryptocurrency industry, as the alleged pyramid scheme Atlas Quantum upsets it customers yet again, another six individuals linked to the Unick Forest crypto scheme are arrested, and the founder of A2 Trader challenges Brazilian regulators to shut down his trading website. Here is the past week of cryptocurrency and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph Brasil. Atlas Quantum upsets customers, as it buys BTC for $5,500 and resells for $11,710 The alleged pyramid scheme, Atlas Quantum, a Brazilian platform that claims to conduct Bitcoin (BTC) arbitration, has angered its …

Brazil has seen another tumultuous week in the cryptocurrency industry as the president of investment scheme Unick Forex said it will only pay customers who have kept their receipts, the 18th million Bitcoin (BTC) was mined, and the alleged pyramid scheme Atlas Quantum denied that videos with balances at Gate.io and HitBTC are fake. Here is the past week of crypto and blockchain news in review, as originally reported by Cointelegraph Brasil. Unick Forex says it will only pay customers who have a receipt The president of alleged cryptocurrency investment scheme Unick Forex Leidimar Lopes said that anyone who has …