Brazil to seize Bitcoin? 🇧🇷

A new law in Brazil will allow authorities to seize digital assets like Bitcoin to help combat organized crime and fund public security.

Author

Stacy Jones
March 26, 2026

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📝 What you need to know

Brazil just gave crime a costly new consequence—losing your crypto.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the "Anti-Gang Law" this week, letting judges freeze or seize digital assets like Bitcoin from criminals, with proceeds potentially flowing into public security funds.

The law targets the financial backbone of organized crime, aiming to starve criminal networks of their resources. It doesn't name specific cryptocurrencies, but covers "digital or virtual assets" broadly. The legislation has been in the works since November, following a government crackdown on illegal Bitcoin mining. Brazil joins a growing number of countries figuring out what to do with seized crypto — hopefully with better luck than South Korea.

Brazil Passes Law to Use Seized Bitcoin, Crypto to Fund Public Security Measures

A new law in Brazil will allow authorities to seize digital assets like Bitcoin to help combat organized crime and fund public security.

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 💬 Quote of the Day

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“The law represents progress in combating organized crime, by incorporating mechanisms for financial strangulation and strengthening the state's capacity to respond to the growing complexity of these
criminal structures.”

Brazil’s Minister of Justice and Public Security Wellington Lima

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