Bitcoin Deemed Too Risky for National Reserves by Brazil’s Central Bank

A national bitcoin reserve: tax utopia or bold accelerator for the crypto industry? The concept appeals to some as a historic opportunity to modernize the State’s vaults. Others, more cautious, see it as an excessive risk. And in Brazil, the Central Bank and government clearly are not on the same page. While some dream of a sovereign digital future, others hit the brakes. Behind the numbers and laws, there is a global ideological battle over the queen of cryptos playing out, far beyond Brazilian borders.

Cold war in Brasilia: the Central Bank locks down the Bitcoin dream

It’s a showdown like Brazil hasn’t seen in a long time in the financial sector, fueled by a will to end the dollar and redraw its monetary sovereignty. The Central Bank has brought out the heavy artillery against the bitcoin reserve project . Luís Guilherme Siciliano, director of international reserves, expressed his firm opposition to the project. According to him, bitcoin does not meet standards of a reserve asset. He relied on the IMF classification, which categorizes BTC among “non-financial and non-produced” assets, alongside natural resources like land or minerals.

On the other hand, some government members see a bold turn to take. Pedro Giocondo Guerra, Chief of Staff to the Vice President, defends this view with a clear and sharp quote:

Discussing the creation of a sovereign Bitcoin reserve is a public interest and vital for Brazil’s prosperity. After all, bitcoin is digital gold, the gold of the internet. 

Two camps, two worldviews. One bets on monetary caution, the other on economic disruption. Who will have the last word in this balancing act between tradition and modernity?

Crypto taxed, crypto valued: a strategy that makes some cough

Tax with one hand, invest with the other: a strategy that makes more than one in the crypto community cough. Since June, Brazil applies a uniform 17.5% tax on all capital gains linked to cryptocurrencies. No more exemption thresholds. Small investors pay the high price, even as the country considers injecting up to 18.6 billion $ of its reserves in bitcoin.

A contradiction? For some, yes. This fiscal turn, intended to replenish State coffers, sends a mixed message to those who believe in blockchain innovation. Why tax heavily an asset that one simultaneously plans to make a strategic pillar of public finance?

Tax pressure could cool local enthusiasm. And it doesn’t go unnoticed. On forums and X, several members of the Brazilian crypto sphere accuse the government of double-dealing: “They want the gains, not the vision.” A phrase that sums up the current ambivalence between digital dream and fiscal need.

When Brazil flirts with the giants 

This is no small thing: Brazil is today the 10th country worldwide for crypto adoption and first in Latin America. In 2024, 76 billion dollars were traded in crypto in the country. Bill 4501/2024, nicknamed RESBit, aims to allow the Central Bank to buy up to 5% of its foreign exchange reserves, or around 19 billion dollars , in bitcoin. 

And this is not an idea thrown into the air. On August 20, a first public hearing gathered representatives from the Central Bank, Ministry of Finance, fintechs like Bitso, and actors from the ABcripto association. Objective: debate the technical and political outlines of the project.

Focus on the key figures: 

• 76 billion $ traded in crypto in Brazil in 2024;
• 10th worldwide country in crypto adoption;
• RESBit project estimated at 18.6 billion $;
• Parliamentary hearing held on August 20, 2025;
• 6 major institutions invited to the debate.

Brazil clearly flirts with a pioneering role. But in wanting to follow in the footsteps of El Salvador or the USA, the risk is great. Strategic headlong rush or giant leap towards the future? The lines remain blurred.

If Brazil is groping, it is not alone. In the United States, the idea of a bitcoin reserve is not consensual either. In Arizona, Governor Katie Hobbs rejected a similar proposal three times , the last one involving a reserve built from seized bitcoins. This shows that even in technophile strongholds, states remain divided on the role of crypto in their economic strategy.