Brazil adopts new law to confiscate crypto assets that will be used for public security spending and step up efforts to crack down on crime

Brazilian President Lula has signed Law No. 15,358, which clearly includes encrypted assets seized during law enforcement into the public security funding system and is used for expenditures such as police equipment, intelligence operations and personnel training. The law allows temporary use of relevant crypto assets with court approval pending final conviction. The new rules also significantly expand the authority of the judiciary to freeze, block or confiscate cryptographic assets during the investigation stage, including restricting access to exchange accounts, digital wallets and related platforms. Once convicted, those involved will be permanently disqualified from using the formal financial system and encryption systems. In addition, the law lists the use of encrypted communication tools or privacy technologies as an aggravating circumstance to cover up criminal behavior, promotes transnational asset recovery and intelligence sharing, and establishes a national-level database that integrates the financial structure of criminal organizations. Analysts believe that this move marks Brazil's shift of crypto assets from potential reserve tools to law enforcement resources, strengthening its crackdown on organized crimes (such as PCC and Comando Vermelho), and promoting the upgrading of the judicial system's ability to supervise and dispose of digital assets.