Crypto.com receives a payment institution licence in Brazil

This new licence will allow the company to keep on offering regulated fiat wallet services in Brazil, where the Crypto.com Visa card has been available since 2021. Crypto.com representatives cited by coindesk.com highlighted Brazil and the entire Latin American market as important regions for the company’s goals to bring cryptocurrency into every wallet. 

They also mentioned Latin America’s crypto adoption efforts as well as the regulators who have been playing a key role to foster this. In November 2022, Brazil-based payments company CloudWalk became the first crypto firm to obtain a Payments Institution Licence from the country’s central bank. Crypto.com has now become the first cryptocurrency exchange to obtain such a licence.

Payment institutions in Brazil 

According bcb.gov.br citing Brazilian regulation, a payment institution is a legal person that adheres to one or more payment schemes and it is authorised to provide the following services as its main or secondary activity:

• Management of payment accounts.
• Issuance of payment instrument.
• Payment instrument acquiring.
• Provision of cash-in and cash-out services of the funds held on payment accounts.
• Other activities related to the provision of payment services as regulated by the Banco Central do Brasil (BCB). 

The legal and regulatory frameworks of payment schemes and payment institutions aim at promoting financial inclusion and improving the safety and efficiency of payment schemes. A payment institution is not allowed to conduct activities that are restricted to financial institutions, but a financial institution may join a payment scheme.

Other Crypto.com developments in 2022

In September 2022, Crypto.com has been registered in France as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). The news came after it received clearance from the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR).  

Crypto.com was reviewed closely, particularly around anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, to receive regulatory approval. With this registration, the platform can now offer a suite of products and services in compliance with local regulations to customers in France. 

In November 2022, Crypto.com has announced that it has become an associate programme member in Singapore to self-issue Visa credit cards with crypto capabilities, and the company plans to introduce more digital services and payment features once the self-issuance of the card commences. Company officials confirmed their plans to provide their customers with more ways to engage with cryptocurrencies as a means of payment for goods and services.