Overview
- President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed Law No. 15.358, which lets authorities channel crypto taken from suspects into police gear, intelligence work, and training, with judges able to approve use before a final verdict and to order extraordinary forfeiture sales.
- Investigators can now freeze digital assets, block Pix instant-payment transfers, and halt activity on crypto exchanges without notifying suspects during active probes.
- The statute creates new crimes for militia-style control of territory and aiding such structures, carrying potential 12- to 40-year prison terms, and it treats the use of encrypted apps or privacy tools to hide crimes as an aggravating factor.
- After convictions, courts can impose permanent bans on a person’s access to the formal financial system and to crypto services, tightening long-term constraints on convicted leaders and facilitators.
- A new national database will map the finances of known groups and support cross-border asset recovery and intelligence sharing, giving police and prosecutors tools to track and reclaim illicit funds across jurisdictions.