The Brazilian Federal Police conducted an operation to dismantle three groups involved in money laundering activities using cryptocurrency. The operation, named Niflheim, was carried out in partnership with the Federal Revenue Service, Brazil’s tax authority, and resulted in eight arrests and 19 search and seizure orders in Caxias do Sul, Sao Paulo, Fortaleza, and Brasilia.
The Brazilian Federal Court froze $1.58 billion held in bank accounts and crypto exchanges. Additionally, several vehicles and properties were confiscated.
The operation targeted three organizations that collectively laundered $9.7 billion using cryptocurrency since the investigation began in 2021. Reports from local media revealed that the laundered funds stemmed from various illegal activities, primarily involving drug trafficking and smuggling.
The Brazilian tax authority, the Federal Revenue Service, is utilizing an AI tool to identify operations connected to over $180 million in crypto-related tax fraud. The tool, developed internally, employs artificial intelligence algorithms and complex network analysis to streamline the analysis of tax data, resulting in improved detection of illicit transactions.
Nubank, a leading neobank in Latam, has announced the discontinuation of nucoin trading, its in-house cryptocurrency. The institution, which revealed it had surpassed 100 million customers in May, stated that this move is part of a restructuring of its internal rewards system, as communicated through an email to its customers.
According to the email, the bank will cease trading nucoin in 15 days, and holders will have two options with this update. They can exchange their nucoin for bitcoin or USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, but only if they possess over 100 reais ($17.64) worth of the currency by December 9. Holders with less than that amount or those who fail to complete the exchange before the deadline can retain the coins to benefit from the future reformulated rewards program.
