BCB Normative Instruction No. 701 — Establishes the form of communication and minimum requirements for technical certification by an independent qualified company for virtual asset service provision

NORMATIVE INSTRUCTION
BCB No. 701, OF JANUARY 22, 2026

Establishes the form of communication and the minimum requirements to be observed in the preparation, by an independent qualified company, of technical certification that accompanies the communication of interest in providing virtual asset services in the Country, as referred to in BCB Resolution No. 520, of November 10, 2025.

The Head of the Department of Supervision of Cooperatives and Non-Banking Institutions (Desuc), the Acting Head of the Banking Supervision Department (Desup), and the Head of the Conduct Supervision Department (Decon), in the use of the attribution conferred upon them by art. 23 of the Internal Regulations of the Central Bank of Brazil, annexed to BCB Resolution No. 340, of September 21, 2023, and in view of the provisions of BCB Resolution No. 520, of November 10, 2025,

RESOLVE:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Art. 1 This Normative Instruction establishes the form of communication and the minimum requirements to be observed in the preparation, by an independent qualified company, of technical certification that accompanies the communication of interest in providing virtual asset services in the modalities of intermediation and custody of virtual assets in the Country by the institutions and entities referred to in arts. 20, items I and II, and 23, § 3º of BCB Resolution No. 520, of November 10, 2025.

Art. 2 The communication referred to in art. 1 must, obligatorily, comply with the following procedures:

I - registration and update of information and registration data that comprise the Information System on Entities of Interest to the Central Bank (Unicad), referred to in BCB Resolution No. 209, of March 22, 2022; and

II - submission, through the APS-Siscom System - Integrated Supervision Support and Communication System - Relevant Communication Module, of the technical certification prepared by an independent qualified company referred to in arts. 21, caput, 22, § 2º, and 23, § 3º, of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025, in the terms defined in this Normative Instruction.

§ 1 Failure to carry out all the procedures defined in the caput of this article will result in the communication having no effect before the Central Bank of Brazil, so that the applicant institution will remain prohibited from providing the virtual asset services referred to in this Normative Instruction, in accordance with current regulations.

§ 2 The procedures for submitting the technical certification mentioned in item II of the caput are described in the manual “Relevant Communication Module”, available at the electronic address https://www.bcb.gov.br/estabilidadefinanceira/siscom-comunicacao-relevante.

CHAPTER II

TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION REQUIRED BY THE CENTRAL BANK OF BRAZIL

Section I

Of the Independent Qualified Company

Art. 3 The independent qualified company contracted for the purposes of complying with the provisions of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025, and this Normative Instruction must include an institutional presentation demonstrating aptitude and compatibility for the work to be performed, containing, at a minimum:

I - existing and valid qualifications and credentials for the exercise of the said activity; and

II - a declaration of non-existence of corporate and business relationships with the contracting party that imply a conflict of interest or prejudice to the independence of the analysis to be prepared, which must be signed by the responsible director or administrator of the applicant institution and by the certifying entity.

Sole Paragraph. The institutional presentation referred to in this article must accompany the prepared technical certification, to be forwarded to the Central Bank of Brazil in the terms determined in this Normative Instruction.

Section II

Of the Opinion

Art. 4 The technical certification to be prepared by an independent entity, as referred to in arts. 21, caput, 22, § 2º, and 23, § 3º, of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025, must consist of a conclusive opinion asserting the adequacy of the interested institution, at a minimum, regarding the following items:

I - the mechanisms and procedures:

a) that allow demonstrating the effective segregation between the virtual assets owned by the virtual asset service provider and the virtual assets owned by its clients and users; and

b) that are intended to ensure proof of reserves of virtual assets, demonstrating that the virtual asset service provider effectively possesses the virtual assets it declares to hold on behalf of its clients and users;

II - the relevant contracted services, in accordance with Chapter IX, Section IV, of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025, especially those listed in arts. 32 and 33 of the said BCB Resolution, including the demonstration of adequacy of contracting data processing and storage and cloud computing services by financial institutions and other institutions authorized to operate by the Central Bank of Brazil;

III - the technical, operational, and compliance capacity with current legislation and regulation of the company(ies) contracted to provide relevant services within the scope of virtual asset service provision, including in cases involving a service provider based abroad, observing the provisions of art. 83 of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025, and the terms defined by current regulation;

IV - the plans for recovery of positions and control of virtual assets and financial resources of clients and users, in addition to the plans of the virtual asset service providers themselves, in case of incidents affecting these virtual assets and financial resources, involving the contracted institution or entity;

V - the policies and procedures referred to in art. 43 of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025, and other rules related to the governance of virtual asset service provision activities;

VI - the processes and procedures aimed at:

a) complying with specific legislation and regulations applicable to the discipline of combating the criminal use of the National Financial System, especially in relation to the prevention and combat of money laundering, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and

b) ensuring the security, resilience, and proper functioning of the computational environment used to support the provision of virtual asset services, which include, at a minimum, the provisions of art. 48, items I to VIII, of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025;

VII - the regulatory requirements provided for the policies of custody and protection of the control instruments of their clients' and users' virtual assets;

VIII - the continuous monitoring mechanisms adopted by the virtual asset service provider for institutional security and risk assessment, with the objective of detecting, preventing, and responding to possible threats and incidents;

IX - the regulatory and internal standardization requirements of the provider provided for:

a) specific policies aimed at the offering, listing, suspension, and delisting of selected virtual assets; and

b) complying with the provisions of art. 65, items I to IX, of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025, in the processes of selecting virtual assets referenced in fiat currency for offering or listing on their platforms;

X - the internal control systems consisting of policies and procedures, in addition to the necessary mechanisms intended to:

a) adequately segregate the functions performed by the governance of the institution or entity that imply a conflict of interest, potential or effective; and

b) control and monitor the performance of activities related to virtual asset intermediation and custody services, observing, at a minimum:

i. the regulation relating to internal control systems of financial institutions and other institutions authorized to operate by the Central Bank of Brazil; and

ii. the conditions provided for in art. 69, items I to IX, and in art. 85, items I to XX, of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025;

XI - the risk and capital management, compliance, and internal audit structures in the form of the regulation applicable to financial institutions and other institutions authorized to operate by the Central Bank of Brazil;

XII - the cybersecurity policies and incident action and response plan, in the form of current regulation;

XIII - the internal policies and investigation mechanisms adopted with the purpose of identifying, monitoring, and preventing spurious practices in the virtual asset market;

XIV - the virtual asset custody contract, as provided for in art. 73, item VIII, 75 and 78, of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025;

XV - the measures and/or plans implemented by the virtual asset custodian in compliance with the provisions of art. 76, items I to XII, of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025;

XVI - the redundancy mechanisms adopted for the control instruments over virtual assets; and

XVII - the procedures for recovering the material to which the redundancy mechanism referred to in item XVI applies, for the purposes of supervision by this Central Bank of Brazil.

§ 1 The conclusive opinion prepared by the independent qualified company that comprises the technical certification mentioned in the caput must also evaluate and ensure whether the virtual asset service provider adequately provides clients and users with:

I - clear and precise information about:

a) the institution itself and the characteristics of the services it performs, as well as the legislation and regulation applicable to the services that the entity or institution offers;

b) the communication channels and support resources made available by the virtual asset service provider;

c) the contracted institutions and entities and the services provided, allowing an understanding of the implications and relevance of these participations for clients and users;

d) the existence or absence of coverage by guarantee funds or insurance for the services it performs, observing the provisions of art. 68 of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025;

e) the rights and obligations involved in the relationship between clients, users, virtual asset service providers, and other institutions or entities involved, as well as the existence of any conditions;

f) the functioning of the processes of custody, safekeeping, and storage of the control instruments of virtual assets owned by these clients and users, regardless of whether such services are performed directly by it or by third parties;

g) the virtual asset and the distributed ledger technology-based system involved, considering:

i. the nature of the asset and the risks involved in its acquisition; and

ii. the disclosure, at a minimum, of the provisions of art. 67, items I to VIII, of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025; and

h) the virtual asset staking operations performed, containing, at least, the risks and information provided in art. 71 of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025; and

II - informational content related to good practices and existing risks in operations carried out in the virtual asset market; and

III - the updated report of the position held in virtual assets by the client or user.

§ 2 The technical certification must address the adequacy referred to in this article, specifically, for each item mentioned, and in no case will a conclusive opinion issued in a general character for all items in a consolidated manner be admitted.

§ 3 The Central Bank of Brazil may request further details on elements of the opinion referred to in the caput, for the purpose of mitigating doubts or clarifications from this Authority, to be provided by the responsible company within a period compatible with the complexity.

§ 4 The technical certification must observe, when applicable, the mode of operation and activity performed by the institution interested in providing virtual asset services.

§ 5 In the cases provided for in arts. 22 and 23 of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025, the technical certification must ensure that the virtual asset service provider already effectively and fully complies with the requirements of the said BCB Resolution, including the provisions of this article.

CHAPTER III

FINAL PROVISIONS

Art. 5 The working papers and supporting memoranda used by the independent qualified entity to subsidize the preparation of its technical certification must remain available to the Central Bank of Brazil for a minimum period of 5 (five) years, and may be requested at any time.

Art. 6 This Normative Instruction enters into force on February 2, 2026.

ADALBERTO FELINTO DA CRUZ JÚNIOR RICARDO SIVIERI ZENI Head of Desuc Acting Head of Desup

JULIANA MOZACHI SANDRI
Head of Decon

NOTE

1. Law No. 14,478, of December 21, 2022, provides for the guidelines to be observed in the provision of virtual asset services and in the regulation of virtual asset service providers. Article 7 of this law establishes the competence for the regulatory body or authority defined by the Executive Power to supervise virtual asset service providers operating in the Country.

2. Decree No. 11,563, of June 13, 2023, in turn, established that the Central Bank of Brazil holds, among other competencies, the attributions to regulate the provision of virtual asset services and to regulate, authorize, and supervise virtual asset service providers, observing the terms of Law No. 14,478, of 2022.

3. Based on this competence, on November 10, 2025, BCB Resolution No. 520, of November 10, 2025, was issued, which regulates the constitution and operation of virtual asset service provider companies and the provision of virtual asset services by other institutions authorized to operate by the Central Bank of Brazil.

4. It should be noted that the said BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025, established that the institution referred to in its art. 20, among those regulated by the Central Bank of Brazil - banks, Caixa Econômica Federal, foreign exchange and securities brokerage firms, and securities distribution firms, that are interested in providing virtual asset intermediation and custody services (in this case, with the exception of foreign exchange brokerage firms) - may only begin these activities after ninety days from the date of formal communication to the Central Bank of Brazil of its interest (prior communication), in the form and with the certifications required in that BCB Resolution.

5. The said resolution also established formal communication regarding the performance of activities in the virtual asset market by the interested institution, until the effective date of this Resolution, February 2, 2026, that performs activities in the virtual asset market or that succeeds the entity constituted abroad in its operations and clients (institutions and entities operating in the virtual asset market).

6. The communication must be accompanied by the result of a technical certification prepared by an independent qualified company, in terms to be defined in specific regulation, certifying that the institution complies with the requirements of the said BCB Resolution.

7. This Normative Instruction establishes the form of communication and the minimum requirements to be observed in the preparation, by an independent qualified company, of the technical certification that accompanies the communication of interest in providing virtual asset services in the modalities of intermediation and custody of virtual assets in the Country by the institutions and entities referred to in arts. 20, items I and II, and 23, §3º of BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025.

8. It is important to highlight that Decree No. 10,411, of June 30, 2020, regulates the performance of Regulatory Impact Analysis - RIA as a prerequisite for the issuance of a normative act. However, in its art. 4, the Decree establishes the hypotheses of exemption from performing RIA. In this sense, this BCB Normative Instruction falls under the hypothesis provided for in art. 4, item II, related to a normative act intended to discipline rights or obligations defined in a hierarchically superior norm that does not technically or legally allow for different regulatory alternatives.

9. With the issuance of Decree No. 11,563, of 2023, and BCB Resolution No. 520, of 2025, there was no alternative but to establish the procedures to be observed for the communication of interest in providing virtual asset services in the modalities of intermediation and custody of virtual assets in the Country and to define the minimum terms to be contemplated in the technical certification, allowing the Central Bank to supervise and monitor such activities, which justifies the classification of this normative act under art. 4, item II, of Decree No. 10,411, of 2020.

10. Thus, based on what is stated in paragraphs 8 and 9, we understand that this normative act is exempt from performing RIA.

ADALBERTO FELINTO DA CRUZ JÚNIOR RICARDO SIVIERI ZENI Head of Desuc Acting Head of Desup

JULIANA MOZACHI SANDRI
Head of Decon