Brazil has moved the date when banks and payment institutions must stop facilitating virtual-asset operations with non-compliant crypto counterparties from 30 October to 6 November, while the Banco Central do Brasil prepares an official list of firms in transition under the new licensing regime.
The change comes through Resolution BCB 589, published in the Diário Oficial da União on 25 September and effective for Article 91 from 1 October. It supersedes the date FinanceFeeds previously reported under Resolution 520.
The timing matters because Brazil is now moving from rule-writing to gatekeeping. The central bank has already published its first known refusal of a crypto-service licence, while public process searches have identified only seven applications still moving through the BCB process.
What Resolution 589 Changed in Article 91
From 30 October, the old Article 91 would have barred regulated financial and payment institutions from carrying out or facilitating virtual-asset operations with providers that were neither authorised nor “in the process of authorisation.”
Resolution 589 moves the operational cut-off to 6 November and changes that wording. The new text refers to counterparties that “are not authorised” to operate in Brazil, deleting the explicit reference to firms that are in the authorisation process.
That deletion creates an obvious practical question: what status will a firm with a pending application have after 6 November?
The central bank’s explanatory Vote 108/2026 says the extra week is intended to let the BCB systematise and publish an official list of institutions in transition, including virtual-asset service providers that have filed for authorisation and eligible institutions that notified the bank of their intention to operate in the market.
As of 6 October, FinanceFeeds could not locate that consolidated transition list on the BCB’s public pages. Until the regulator publishes it or directly clarifies how pending applications interact with the revised Article 91, FinanceFeeds is not assuming that a pending application alone guarantees continued bank access after 6 November.
Why the Central Bank Moved the Date
Paragraph 7 of Vote 108 gives the regulator’s stated reason for the seven-day extension: it needs time to organise and publish the transition list so the market and government bodies know which entities are inside the regulated transition.
That makes the list a critical operational document for both crypto firms and their banks.
30 October still matters for a separate reason: it remains the Phase 1 filing deadline for existing providers. Article 9 of BCB Normative Instruction 704 explicitly says existing virtual-asset service providers must submit their authorisation package by 30 October 2026. FinanceFeeds previously detailed the independent audit work that must accompany that filing.
Brazil Has Already Refused Its First Crypto Licence
The transition is also no longer theoretical.
The BCB rejected the authorisation request of Higherway Tech Soluções, which operates as Higher Global Payments. The decision was dated 25 August and published in the Diário Oficial on 28 September. The published notice did not give the specific reason for the refusal.
Higher Global said it was reviewing the decision with legal and regulatory advisers and assessing possible review or other administrative or judicial measures. The case is the first known refusal under the new virtual-asset service-provider regime.
The central bank has also indicated that more negative decisions could come quickly. André Zanon, a BCB official, said during an ABCripto webinar on 29 September that the regulator intends to accelerate refusals where basic Phase 1 requirements fail, including the reputation of controllers, capital requirements and proof that the firm was already operating when the regime took effect.
Only Seven Applications Have Surfaced Publicly
Public searches reported through early October had identified seven applications still in the BCB process: Transfero, Mazzera, PFPAY, Masterpay, W Brasil, Onda Finance and Wynx.
That does not mean those are the only firms planning to remain in Brazil. Several larger exchanges have publicly said they intend to seek authorisation, while others have restructured products, exited retail operations or transferred customers.
The consumer side is already visible. FinanceFeeds reported this week that Bity is ending its crypto services and directing Bitybank and BityPreço users toward different migration routes as the new regime approaches.
What Firms and Their Banks Must Do Before 6 November
For existing providers, 30 October remains the filing deadline. The application must satisfy the BCB’s Phase 1 documentation requirements, including the independent reasonable-assurance work added earlier this year.
For banks, payment institutions and other BCB-regulated firms, 6 November is now the key counterparty date. Their compliance teams will need to know which crypto businesses the central bank recognises as authorised or within the transition framework once the official list is published.
That is why Resolution 589 is more than a one-week delay. Brazil has changed the legal wording, postponed the banking cut-off, refused its first licence and promised a list that will tell the financial system which crypto firms are inside the transition.
The next milestone is therefore not another policy speech. It is the list.
