Brazil's central bank just banned fintechs and payment companies from settling cross-border transactions with stablecoins or crypto. Individuals can still buy and hold — but the actual payment rails are shut down.
This hits the remittance corridor hard. Brazil is LatAm's largest economy and a major crypto market. Fintechs built their entire business models around stablecoin settlement — now they need to restructure or relocate.
The timing is telling. While the US moves toward CLARITY Act clarity, Brazil goes the other direction. Watch for other emerging market central banks to copy this playbook. If they do, crypto loses some of its strongest use cases in the developing world.