2TM, the parent company of Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin, has received $50.3 million in fresh financing to expand its operations across Latin America, sending a strong signal that venture capital sees growth potential in the region. The Series B fundraiser had participation from United States-based funds 10T and Tribal Capital, as well as Brazilian companies Traders Club, Pipo Capital and Endeavor, the company disclosed Tuesday. The funding round further cements 2TM’s status as a crypto unicorn after the company raised $200 million from SoftBank in July. At the time, Mercado Bitcoin was the second Latin American cryptocurrency exchange to …

In an announcement to Reuters News on Thursday morning, Brazillian cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin said it has signed an agreement with Comerc, one of the main retail energy providers in Brazil, to develop renewable energy tokens. Mercado Bitcoin and Comerc seek to implement two types of tokens. The first, set to launch in 2022, will be tied to a cashback scheme for solar energy generation. Currently, Comerc customers receive up to 15% to 20% of their electricity bills' value in cashbacks should they choose to switch to solar energy. The second token will be linked to certificates that document energy …

Federal Deputy Luizão Goulart, a Brazilian congressman, proposed a bill to legalize crypto payments as a mode of payment for public and private sector workers. Goulart’s proposal seeks a new law that allows all Brazilian workers to have an option to request employers for remuneration in cryptocurrencies. However, the bill warrants crypto payments to be made only after selling a mutual agreement between the workers and the employer. According to the translated version of the bill: “The limits of the percentage of payment (remuneration) in cryptocurrencies will be of the worker’s free choice. Any imposition by the employer will be …

A 4-year-old girl has reportedly earned over 6,500% profit on a one Bitcoin (BTC) gift she received on the day of her birth. João Canhada, the founder of a Brazilian crypto exchange Foxbit, gifted 1 BTC to his newborn daughter, roughly worth $915.80. Sharing details on the event, Canhada said: “As soon as my daughter was born, in 2017, I bought 1 Bitcoin for her, not just as a gift, but as a way of investing in this new economy. At the time, BTC cost 5,000 Brazilian Real.” Four years later, the one BTC investment has returned profits of over …

Brazilian lawmakers are working to provide stricter regulations for cryptocurrency-related crimes, approving a set of new penalties for laundering money with crypto. Brazil’s Special Committee of the Chamber of Deputies has approved a bill that significantly tightens penalties for financial crimes that employ cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), according to an official announcement on Wednesday. The latest regulatory amendments are part of bill 2303/15, increasing the size of the fines from one-third of the amount of laundered money to two-thirds. The bill also proposes to raise minimum prison terms from three to four years, and increase maximum prison time from 10 …

Brazil Stock Exchange (B3), one of the world’s few exchanges trading Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds, is exploring ways to provide data inputs for the country’s central bank digital currency, or CBDC. Luis Kondic, managing director of listed products and data at B3, claimed that the stock exchange is considering providing oracles to bridge external data with Brazil’s projected CBDC, the digital real. The executive provided his remarks at a CBDC-related online event hosted by the Central Bank of Brazil on Thursday, Cointelegraph Brasil reported. “We are looking at it and evaluating the best ways to interact and participate in this …

Leading Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual has launched a new platform that enables customers to make direct investments in cryptocurrencies. The bank’s Mynt platform currently allows users to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), with BTG Pactual expressing its intention to launch support for additional crypto assets in the future. Andre Porthilo, BTG Pactual’s head of digital assets, stated: “At this first moment, we will have the two main assets of the market, but we will include other cryptos for trading over time. We will have a complete platform with blockchain-based assets." BTG Pactual CEO, Roberto Sallouti, described Mynt's creation …

In a recent interview with local Brazilian news outlet Seu Dinheiro, Eduardo Abreu, vice president of new business at payments giant Visa, revealed the company’s intentions to integrate crypto assets onto its platform for both payments and as a store of value, including the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC). Back in March 2021, Visa’s CEO of Brazil, Fernando Teles, introduced the concept of adopting tokenized payments, as well as an application programming interface, or API, designed to bridge the gap between traditional financial institutions and crypto services. In the interview, Abreu shared his belief that greater adoption will require the integration …

Speaking at an online event organized by the Council of the Americas, Roberto Campos Neto, president of the Central Bank of Brazil, shared his views on transparent payments networks, the country’s central bank digital currency project and crypto regulation. Campos Neto has been a staunch advocate of the cryptocurrency space since taking office in 2019. His progressive policy-making has been an encouragement to investors and organizations alike, ambitious to modernize the Brazilian financial infrastructure. During the event, Campos Neto mentioned several ongoing discussions with Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission on how to welcome cryptocurrencies into the regulatory landscape: “The financial …

BITH11, a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) launched in Brazil by crypto-focused alternative investment firm Hashdex Asset Management, claims to be the country’s first “green” Bitcoin ETF. The fund plans to neutralize its associated carbon emissions through purchasing carbon credits. To meet the ETF’s objectives, Hashdex has partnered with Germany’s Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute, which will produce annual reports estimating the energy consumption and carbon emissions underpinning the creation of Bitcoin (BTC) acquired by the fund. The ETF is currently aiming to invest 0.15% of its liquid assets into carbon credits and eco-friendly technologies every year. The fund was launched on …

Brazil’s Comissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM), the country’s securities regulator, has approved an Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to an announcement by QR Capital, the holding company of QR Asset Management. The fund, which trades under the ticker QETH11, will trade on Brazil’s highly reputable B3 stock exchange, which operates as a regional exchange and serves customers worldwide. QETH11 will use the same Ether index as that used by CME Group and will use institutional custodial services provided by the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini. In its announcement, the fund’s issuer pitches the product as “a simple, safe and regulated option …

Self-described “Bitcoin King” Claudio Oliveira has been arrested and charged by Brazilian federal police for allegedly masterminding a 1.5-billion reals (roughly $300 million) fraud scheme involving crypto. Oliveira served as the president of Bitcoin Banco Group, a Brazilian crypto brokerage firm that has been under investigation since 2019 claiming to have lost 7,000 Bitcoin (BTC) in investor funds. According to a rough translation of a Monday press release, federal police from the Curitiba Metropolitan Region served Oliveira and other members of Bitcoin Banco Group with one preventive arrest warrant, four temporary arrest warrants, and 22 search-and-seizure warrants. Bitcoin Banco Group …