New “official currency” in Brazil surprises everyone
By Carolina Carvalho
Recently, the Third Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice - STJ - decided, by unanimous vote, that judges can request information and seize cryptocurrencies held by debtors in exchanges. Seu Crédito Digital argues that this decision is an important milestone in Brazilian jurisprudence, as it establishes that digital assets can also be used to settle judicial debts. The rapporteur in the Third Chamber, Minister Humberto Martins, highlighted that cryptocurrencies are financial assets subject to taxation - in fact, they must be declared in your Income Tax - even though they are not legal tender. “Cryptoassets can be used as a means of payment and as a store of value,” established the rapporteur.
“The rapporteur commented that, according to Article 789 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the defaulting debtor is liable with all their assets for the obligation not fulfilled, except for legal exceptions,” explains a statement from the STJ. “For Humberto Martins, in addition to issuing an order to cryptocurrency exchanges, it is still possible to adopt investigative measures to access the debtor's digital wallets, with a view to a possible seizure.”
Case was motivated by a legal action
The STJ's decision was motivated by a creditor who, after winning a legal action, could not locate assets registered in the debtor's name. Therefore, he requested the seizure of cryptocurrencies, stating that these digital assets were part of the debtor's assets, so they should be used to settle the debt. The STJ, as we mentioned, agreed.