Brazil Introduces 24-Hour Review Window for Higher-Risk Crypto Transfers

Brazil is introducing a 24-hour review window for certain higher-risk virtual asset transfers as part of a broader effort to strengthen fraud controls around crypto transactions.

According to reporting on new rules adopted by the Central Bank of Brazil, the measure will apply to specified outbound virtual asset transfers, including transfers to entities outside Brazil and to self-custody wallets. The control is intended to give regulated institutions additional time to assess potentially suspicious or fraudulent activity before assets leave their effective control.

The requirement is expected to apply automatically to transactions above the equivalent of US$10,000, including where a customer’s aggregate transfers during a day exceed that level. Institutions will also be expected to apply the review period below the threshold when their own risk-management criteria indicate heightened risk.

Those criteria are expected to take account of factors including the customer, transaction or service, counterparty and destination jurisdiction. The framework therefore combines a quantitative trigger with risk-based controls rather than relying on transaction value alone.

The new safeguard is scheduled to take effect from 1 January 2027. It builds on Brazil’s broader virtual asset regulatory framework, which has already brought crypto service providers more clearly within financial-sector controls and aligned parts of the regime with FATF and Financial Stability Board expectations.

For compliance teams, the measure is notable because it applies a deliberate delay to transactions that are normally designed to settle quickly. It reflects a growing regulatory focus on using transaction friction selectively where speed can make fraud recovery or suspicious-activity intervention more difficult.