Mauricio Magaldi of Blockchain Insider joins to discuss his predictions for the Brazil crypto ecosystem in 2023. We touch on the Brazil regulatory angle, technology adoption and the growth of asset tokenization projects in the country.   

You can follow Mauricio and Blockchain Insider on Spotify 

Also be sure to check out his Portuguese language podcast BlockDrops 

Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.  

Gustavo Cunha is a Brazilian financial services veteran turned crypto enthusiast, podcaster and writer. In this episode we discuss the Brazilian Central Bank's efforts to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) called the Digital Real. We discuss:

- the Digital Real pilot announced on March 6

- the Bank's decision to use Hyperledger Besu for the Digital Real's underlying infrastructure

- the goal of the Digital Real serving as infrastructure for a tokenized financial system in Brazil

- how the Digital Real stacks up against other CBDC projects around the world

- the difference between Pix and the Digital Real, and how the two will interact with one another once fully operative

You can follow Gustavo's work on his social channels below:

Newsletter: @Fintrender

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Portal do Bitcoin reporter Fernando Martines joins the podcast to discuss the emergence and collapse of Braiscompany - a R$1.5 billion (US$289 million) cryptocurrency pyramid scheme that operated out of the northeastern state of Paraíba. In what some have dubbed as Brazil's last major bitcoin Ponzi scheme, the operation involved everyone from local politicians and business leaders to an estimated 10,000 retail investors from around the country. 

Braiscompany provided handsome monthly payouts to investors while enriching its extravagant and charismatic founders Antonio Neto Ais and Fabrícia Campos. The music stopped in late 2022 when it ceased making payments amid the crypto market collapse, prompting a backlash from angry customers and inquiries from authorities. 

The company's headquarters were raided on February 16 by Federal Police. However, Neto Ais and Campos were nowhere to be seen when authorities arrived and remain at-large, with some suspecting that they fled to Argentina. Authorities in Paraíba have appealed to Interpol for assistance in tracking them down. 

Meanwhile, the company remains leaderless and directionless. Employees have been advised to retain their own person legal counsel. Unfortunately, the prospects of Braiscompany investors recouping their money looks bleak.

Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.

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João Marco Braga da Cunha is a Brazilian economist and portfolio manager with Hashdex, Brazil's largest crypto asset manager. In this episode we discuss a proposal being propagated recently by Brazilian and Argentine leaders about creating a shared currency between the two countries as a way to stimulate trade and reduce dependence on the US dollar. The idea generated a lot of coverage within the crypto community, as even Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong weighed in on Twitter suggesting that the countries should simply adopt bitcoin.

João Marco explains the origin of this shared currency idea, why it might have actually worked in the 1990s when both countries had similar monetary policies, the likely political motivations behind the proposal and what role crypto or digital currency could play here. 

Also take a look at this op-ed on the subject that João Marco wrote for CoinTelegraph 

Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.

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Karen Duque is head of public policy at Bitso Brasil and previously worked on Brazil policy at Google and Didi, a rideshare company. Julien Dutra is head of government relations at 2TM/Mercado Bitcoin. Before joining in January 2022, he led Brazil government affairs for Experian. 

Both are seasoned tech policy professionals in Brasília and were critical in the successful effort to pass crypto legislation in late 2022. Once fully implemented, this new law should establish Brazil as a world leader in crypto regulation. 

In this joint interview, Karen and Julien give us a behind the scenes look at the law itself, the drama and theatrics surrounding its passage and the next steps in implementing the law and establishing a licensing framework for cryptocurrency businesses in the country.

Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.

You can follow both Karen and Julien on Linkedin

Axel Blikstad is a founding partner at BLP Crypto and a two-decade veteran of traditional finance with stints at BTG Pactual, Santander, Banco Garantia and ABN Amro. BLP Crypto is Brazil's oldest crypto fund manager, having launched its first fund in December 2017. In this episode we discuss the ramifications of the FTX collapse on the Brazil crypto ecosystem and how he was able to liquidate his FTT position before the collapse. 

Follow Axel on Linkedin and Twitter 

Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.

Andre Franco is the head of research at Mercado Bitcoin and the host of the Francamente Crypto podcast. In this episode we examine how the collapse of FTX impacts Brazil's emerging crypto scene. We look explore the ramifications for retail and institutional investors, prospects for regulation and what it will take to rebuild trust among users. We also explore what this means for the broader crypto market, including decentralized finance as a potential solution to centralized exchange model. 

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Isac is a technologist, lawyer, professor and a frequently-cited commenter on questions of crypto regulation in Brazil. He is also a former CVM staffer and advisor so has a great understanding of how things work inside the agency.

In this episode we discuss:

If you find this conversation useful, I highly recommend listening to my original podcast with Isac from July where we dive deep into the crypto legislation that is working its way through the Brazilian Congress.

Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.

Marcello Mari is the CEO of SingularityDAO, which is a noncustodial onchain asset management platform that incorporates artificial intelligence tools for decentralized finance.

We discuss how SingularityDAO built off of the success of early-generation projects like SingularityNet and how Brazil has become to SingularityDAO’s most vibrant community. The project’s native token has surged to become the tenth most popular coin in Brazil, per CoinGecko. We also geek out a bit chatting about artificial intelligence and synthetic media, and we speculate about when we will reach the Singularity (the moment when machines become smarter than humans).

Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.

Garrett Kinsman is the co-founder of Nodle, a decentralized network powered by millions of smartphones built to power the Internet of Things. Nodle's "connect-to-earn" platform allows users to earn NODL tokens simply by downloading and running the Nodle app on a smartphone. I caught up with Garrett at the Blockchain Rio Festival last month to discuss more about this exciting platform and why his team is making a big push to onboard new users in Brazil. 

Learn more about Nodle at www.nodle.com, follow @NodleNetwork and @NodleBR on Twitter, and download the Nodle Cash app in Google Play or the App Store

Please follow and subscribe to Brazil Crypto Report on Substack for more news, analysis and interviews examining the Brazil crypto ecosystem.