Brazil is considering establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve fund worth 18.6 billion USD.

The Economic Development Committee of the Brazilian House of Representatives will hold its first hearing on August 20 to consider the proposal to establish the Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Fund (RESBit) with a size of up to 18.6 billion USD.

According to Agência Câmara de Notícias, the meeting will take place at 3 PM ( ET), around 2 AM on August 21 ( Vietnam time), focusing on gathering technical opinions on Bill 4501/24, aimed at modernizing the management of the national treasury and enhancing Brazil’s competitiveness in the global digital economy.

Deputy Congressman Luiz Philippe de Orleans e Bragança – the person who proposed the hearing – stated that the goal is to gather in-depth analysis from government agencies and financial organizations regarding the RESBit initiative.

The objective of the bill

• Diversifying the assets of the Brazilian Treasury.
• Protect international reserves against exchange rate fluctuations and geopolitical tensions.

The confirmed speaker list includes Diego Kolling, Bitcoin’s Chief Strategy Officer at Méliuz, and Julia Rosim, the policy group coordinator of ABcripto and the Director of Public Policy at Bitso.

Legal basis and market context

The bill initiated by Congressman Eros Biondini is inspired by countries that have successfully integrated blockchain, such as El Salvador, the United States, China, Dubai, and the European Union.

According to the proposal, the Central Bank of Brazil and the Ministry of Finance will be responsible for custody and management of the reserve fund, and must publish a biannual report on effectiveness and risks.

Brazil is currently the leading country in the Latin American region in terms of cryptocurrency adoption, and ranks 10th globally according to Chainalysis’ Geography of Crypto 2024 report. The Brazilian tax agency stated that in 2023 alone, the volume of crypto transactions in the country reached nearly 76 billion USD.

The RESBit proposal is seen as a step to bring Brazil into the group of countries researching the use of digital assets as a hedge for national reserves.

The evaluation and approval process

After the hearing on August 20, the bill will be sent to four committees of the House of Representatives for review:

• Economic Development Committee
• Committee on Science, Technology and Innovation
• Finance and Taxation Committee
• Constitutional, Judicial and Civil Rights Committee

Only when approved by all committees, the bill is brought before the entire House of Representatives for a vote, before continuing to be presented to the Senate to become official law.

Orleans e Bragança MP emphasized the importance of consulting technical analysis from the Central Bank, government officials, banking system representatives, and experts to refine the document before proceeding with the detailed review.

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