The Brazilian House of Representatives is advancing a new legal regulation that directly covers crypto assets in the fight against electronic fraud. The Finance and Taxation Committee, one of the critical committees in the parliament, adopted bill 5819/2025, which allows the freezing of suspects’ crypto wallets and increases the prison sentence for some electronic fraud crimes to up to 10 years.
It is planned to give new powers to the judiciary
According to the bill, the penalty range for fraud crimes committed via social media, telephone, e-mail and other digital channels will be increased from the current 4 to 8 years to 6 to 10 years. Fines are also included in the regulation.
The new framework gives judges the authority to freeze bank accounts and crypto wallets as part of an injunction. Courts will also be able to block access to real estate, ban suspects from contacting victims, and restrict their use of social media and digital payment systems.
The bill passed by the committee gives judges the authority to freeze bank accounts and crypto wallets in electronic fraud investigations, and envisages increasing prison sentences to 6 to 10 years.
Courts may also order preventive detention if the victim’s damage exceeds 100 minimum wage or if investigators determine that the suspect poses a flight risk. If it is determined that the crime was committed within an organized structure, the basic penalty is expected to be increased by one third.
The bill has not yet become law
Proposal 5819/2025 was introduced by Member of the House of Representatives Coronel Chrisostomo and committee rapporteur was Kim Kataguiri. As the country’s lower legislative house, Brazil’s House of Representatives plays a central role in the early evaluation of federal legislative proposals.
The bill will next be evaluated by the Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Committee. If it passes here, it will first have to be voted in the plenary session of the House of Representatives and then in the Senate. In the final stage, the text will be sent to the head of state for signature.
Brazil has focused on crypto crimes in recent years
Brazil is trying to combat crypto-related crimes not only through legislative proposals but also through field operations. As part of Operation Lusocoin, carried out by the Federal Police in September 2025, a network was targeted for allegedly laundering more than 3 billion Brazilian reals through crypto assets, shell companies and an institution-specific token.
As a result of this operation, 11 people were detained and 65 people and the assets of the organization were frozen. The investigation file was noted as one of the examples indicating that Brazil is taking a tougher line in its approach to crypto-related financial crimes.
Noteworthy files have been opened in the country before. In 2022, the Brazilian Federal Police and the US Homeland Security Investigations unit carried out an operation on addresses linked to Francisley Valdevino da Silva. Silva, known as the “Bitcoin Sheikh,” was allegedly linked to an international fraud network that allegedly collected approximately $800 million from investors in multiple countries.
More recently, in the Braiscompany case, three executives were sentenced to a total of 170 years in prison. It was reported that the structure in question caused a loss of 1.1 billion Brazilian reais, or approximately 190 million dollars, to approximately 20 thousand investors.
