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Classification of crypto assets in Brazil follows a functional, economic-substance test: securities-type tokens fall under CVM/Law 6,385/1976, other virtual assets under Law 14,478/2022 and BCB oversight. CVM guidance (Parecer 40/2022) confirms technology alone does not determine security status. A CVM tokenization working group, installed July 2026, is developing an experimental framework for DLT-based securities on a multi-stage timeline. Stablecoin classification remains unsettled, resting on undated academic BCB analysis rather than binding guidance.
Stablecoin classification remains the least settled corner of this module. Academic analysis originating from BCB's own WorkTOK series suggests a Howey-test-adjacent approach -- treating a stablecoin as a utility token or a security token depending on whether a central authority actively manages its volatility -- but this is undated working-paper material rather than binding guidance, and its confidence is rated Uncertain rather than Probable or Confirmed. No regulator has issued a stablecoin-specific classification ruling to date; the general VASP and securities frameworks are being applied by analogy rather than by direct rule.
Outlook
The CVM working group's initial proposal, expected roughly in the third quarter of 2026, is the next concrete marker for this module, with the broader review running into the fourth quarter. Whether that process ultimately produces a standalone tokenized-securities regime, and whether it touches stablecoin classification directly, remain open. Firming up the primary text of CVM Parecer de Orientação 40 -- currently anchored only in secondary reporting rather than direct CVM retrieval -- would also strengthen this module's evidentiary base going into the next cycle.
Token Classification
CMN Resolução nº 5.298/2026, overseen jointly by the Conselho Monetário Nacional and the CVM, excludes derivative contracts referencing sporting, gaming, political, electoral, social, cultural or entertainment events from Brazil's derivatives perimeter. The exclusion reaches offers originating abroad where they target Brazilian users, meaning foreign platforms cannot rely on offshore incorporation to avoid the rule. The practical enforcement consequence has already landed: 27 predictive-market platforms were blocked under this resolution. The classification test turns on the type of event the contract references rather than on the token's technical form, so a contract settled on-chain or via stablecoin rails receives no exemption if its underlying reference event falls within the prohibited categories.
Brazil has not enacted a dedicated stablecoin or e-money-token classification taxonomy distinguishing payment tokens, asset-referenced tokens or utility tokens along the lines seen in some comparator regimes; the only classification boundary currently drawn with legal force is this event-type exclusion from the derivatives perimeter.
Outlook
No further token-classification rulemaking beyond the derivatives exclusion and the pending CVM tokenization track (expected from 2027) has been identified. The immediate question for market participants is whether additional predictive-market or event-contract platforms beyond the 27 already blocked will be identified and blocked under the same resolution.
1 earlier distinct update(s)
Token Classification
BCB Resolution 521 reclassifies foreign-currency-referenced virtual assets -- most consequentially USD-referenced stablecoins such as USDT and USDC -- as foreign-exchange transactions under Law 14,286/2021. This is a significant classificatory move: rather than treating these instruments as a sui generis crypto-asset category, Brazil is folding them into its existing, well-developed foreign-exchange supervisory perimeter, which carries its own authorisation, reporting and tax consequences distinct from the general VASP licensing track.
Alongside this FX-perimeter development, the CVM continues to assert jurisdiction over digital assets that function as securities, including certain tokenised assets and ICO-issued tokens. This is not a new assertion introduced this cycle, but its coexistence with the BCB's expanded FX/virtual-asset authority under Resolution 521 means Brazil now operates with at least two live classificatory perimeters -- BCB's FX/virtual-asset authority and CVM's securities authority -- whose precise boundary was not exhaustively mapped this cycle. Where a token sits relative to that boundary (for example, a yield-bearing or governance-token instrument that could plausibly be argued into either perimeter) remains an open question rather than a settled one.
Outlook
The near-term item to track is whether the BCB or CVM issue further guidance clarifying the dividing line between FX-integrated virtual assets and CVM-regulated security tokens, particularly for hybrid instruments that do not sit cleanly in either category. Absent such guidance, classification disputes or inconsistent market practice are a plausible near-term friction point.
Sources and findings (4)
- T2 · Revista da PGBC / Banco Central do BrasilComissão de Valores Mobiliários (CVM) — crypto assets classified as securities under Law 6,385/1976; other virtual assets fall under Law 14,478/2022 / Decree 11,563/2023 and BCB oversightretrieved M4bindingin forcenew
- T4 · CoinDeskCVM Parecer de Orientação 40/2022 — use of blockchain technology alone does not change whether an asset qualifies as a securityretrieved M4bindingin forcenew
- T4 · CoinDeskCVM Tokenization Working Group — an experimental regulatory framework for tokenized securities; initial proposal due within 60 days of installation (July 2026), broader review running 120 days (extendable 30 days)retrieved M3non-bindingnew
- T2 · Banco Central do Brasil (WorkTOK series)Brazilian legal commentary (CVM/BCB reasoning) — stablecoins as utility tokens or security tokens depending on presence of a central controlling authority managing volatility, drawing on the Howey-test frameworkretrieved M3non-bindingnew