The digital assets market is growing and increasingly drawing people’s attention. So much so that TV Senado decided to hold a live event with Transfero’s Director of Products and Partnerships, Safiri Felix, to clarify doubts and dispel some myths about digital security, privacy, regulation, and digital currencies ballast.
Parallel to the event, TV Senado made a survey on its social media and found that 65% of people do not know how a cryptoasset works. Moreover, in the survey, only 22% of Internet users said they had already invested in some kind of digital currency. In any case, 26% of those who answered the survey said they trust the crypto market.
Ballast
One of the main concerns of the people who watched the live was the issue of cryptoassets ballast. For Felix, “the ballast is the confidence that people have in the promises of the Central Banks”. “40% of all dollar stock has been issued in the last two years. The situation of the real is not very different either”, he said.
According to him, rampant monetary issuance generates inflation and reduces people’s purchasing power. “It is just the opposite of what happens with bitcoin, whose model is based on the concept of programmable scarcity”, he explained. That is, because it is a scarce asset, BTC will not lose value.
According to Felix, the backing (in gold or commodities) no longer exists in fiat money, which is issued according to the specific needs of each country. This may bring momentary relief, but at the same time, it also fuels inflation.
Difference between digital real and cryptoassets
This was another doubt raised by internet users. “The Central Bank will issue the digital real, that is, it will be subject to all the policies of the National Monetary Council”, said the director of Transfero.
Felix clarified that cryptoassets are decentralized currencies without the need for intermediation. “One system does not compete with the other. Each user can choose the best way to use their money”, he said, recalling that even with the possibility of increased use of digital currencies, the real will remain in use since it is the currency needed to pay taxes and fees.
Questioned about payments in cryptoassets, he clarified that this already happens in numerous cases. “A user can buy a gift card and load it with crypto, making their payments in large retail chains, for example. Or trade directly in cryptoassets. It’s like trading with a foreign currency; to formalize the transaction, all that is needed is the other party to accept such currency”.
Regulation
Another critical issue of the debate was the clarification on the regulation of crypto assets in Brazil. Felix mentioned Normative Instruction 1888, which establishes rules for declaration to the IRS and parameters for intermediaries (companies such as Transfero and other exchanges) to report users’ activities.
According to Felix, crimes such as money laundering are pretty unlikely. “In the digital environment, everything is traceable. Money laundering on paper is completely different in the digital environment; if there is any suspicion, traceability is effective in elucidating the issue”, he pointed out.
In addition, Transfero’s director cited some bills under discussion, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate, whose purpose is to define CVM’s ( Securities and Exchange Commission) prerogative for regulation and what will be under the responsibility of the Central Bank.
