As of August, a growing trust in cryptocurrencies and high inflation rates have led to a record number of businesses holding cryptocurrency in Brazil.
The country’s taxing authority, Receita Federal do Brasil (RFB), also known as the Federal Revenue of Brazil, recorded 12,053 distinct businesses declaring crypto on their balance sheets in August 2022, as reported by local media.
This is the highest-ever recorded number of companies with crypto holdings, representing a 6.1% increase from July’s 11,360 companies.
BTC is the most popular crypto held by the companies
According to the RFB, stablecoin Tether is the most popular cryptocurrency held by institutions, followed by Bitcoin. However, in August, there were only 1.3 million individual Brazilian crypto investors, a decrease from the previous month.
In August, there was a total of $2.1 billion (11 billion Brazilian reals) in declarations, down from $3.4 billion in July, probably due to the state of the crypto markets. USDT, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, saw the most transactions in August, with nearly 80,000 transactions totaling over $1.42 billion, or approximately $17,500 per transaction.
BTC came in second place with almost $270 million in transactions, but it came in first place for the number of transactions, with over 2.1 million in the same month for an average of $130.
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Brazilians’ trust in cryptocurrency remains high – Experts
From July to August, it was noted that the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) fell from third to fifth in terms of transaction value, losing out to Ether (ETH) and Brazilian Digital Token (BRZ), a real-pegged ERC-20 token from Brazil.
According to a report published in September by Bitstamp titled Crypto Pulse, 77% of Brazilians stated that they trusted digital assets. In August, the country’s largest brokerage firm XP Inc. and payment app PicPay both integrated cryptocurrency exchange services.
Several financial institutions have begun offering cryptocurrency services. Additionally, Binance, a crypto exchange, has increased its efforts in the country by opening two new offices on Oct. 4 and doubling its staff since March.
According to data from the country’s statistics agency, Brazil’s inflation rate reached a 26-year high of 12.1% in April but has since cooled slightly to 8.7% in the most recent August figures.
