Latam Insights: USDT Takes Over Brazil, Bukele’s Administration Accused of Embezzlement The Brazilian Tax Authority (RBF) has acknowledged the growth stablecoins have experienced in the national cryptocurrency market. According to data provided by exchanges,
stablecoins like USDT, USDC, and BRZ, a token pegged to the value of the Brazilian peso, are present in the most transactions.
The institution declared that the rise of these stablecoins in the Brazilian market “deserves attention, as it could have significant implications for the tax and regulatory scenario for cryptocurrencies in the country.” A recently published investigation of the
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) found that the administration of
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele allegedly embezzled funds from
Covid-19 relief loans for Bitcoin projects. The report alleges that
$425 million out of a $600 million loan given to the country by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) in
2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic was directed to fulfill state obligations. Furthermore, more
than $200 million out of these funds were used to fund the process of making bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador.
A group of Venezuelan cryptocurrency exchanges has launched Acincrip, a new association to organize new policies in the face of a national seven-month crypto industry shutdown applied
after the intervention of the national cryptocurrency regulator Sunacrip and the arrest of its former head, Joselit Ramirez.
