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The Federal Revenue Service Announced New Rules for Cryptocurrency Reporting in 2026: Transactions Involving Currency, Crypto to Crypto, Exchanges, Transfers, Wallet Transfers, and Payments Enter Mandatory Reporting, with CARF Categories, International Standards, and Data Sharing. Exchanges Will Adopt the DeCripto Module in July 2026.
The Federal Revenue Service announced in 2025 a series of changes that will take effect in the 2026 declaration of cryptocurrency transactions, requiring that reporting cover purchases, sales, exchanges, transfers, wallet transfers, and payments. According to Flavio Correa Prado, an auditor with the Federal Revenue Service, the new rule linked to DeCripto represents one of the largest changes ever seen in the monitoring of digital assets in Brazil.
In addition to broadening reporting requirements starting in 2026, the Federal Revenue Service indicated that the new model follows categories defined by CARF, with a faithful translation to international standards and data sharing with other countries. However, this process did not start now: it is described as a transition that began in 2019 with Normative Instruction No. 1,888, in a scenario where monthly volume already varies from R$ 1 billion to R$ 5 billion and stablecoins account for up to 90% of reported operations in certain months.
What Changes Practically in the Cryptocurrency Declaration in 2026
The central change is the scope: starting in 2026, all operations involving cryptocurrencies will have to be reported, including not only conversions but also movements and everyday uses.
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Operations such as the following will come under scrutiny:
- crypto to fiat currencies
- crypto to crypto
- transfers
- wallet transfers
- payments
The logic of the Federal Revenue Service is to create a more complete picture of the path of the digital asset, reducing information gaps that existed when a significant portion of movements did not fit in a standardized reporting category.
CARF Categories and Alignment with International Standards
In the new system, transactions will follow categories defined by CARF, with a translation described as faithful to international standards.
This means that the classification method will no longer be a “loose interpretation,” but will adhere to a common vocabulary.
This point is strategic because, according to the basis, the Federal Revenue Service intends to ensure international exchange and efficient consolidation of data.
In other words, the same type of operation will be recognized and processed similarly in different contexts, facilitating comparisons, cross-references, and sharing.
Purchase, Sale, and Exchange: How Operations Will Be Named
The standardization is evident in three direct classification examples:
- Transactions crypto to fiat currencies will be classified as purchase or sale of crypto assets.
- Transactions crypto to crypto will appear as exchange of crypto assets.
- Transfers will no longer be a generic term and will be treated as inflow or outflow.
Here, the change is more than semantic. The Federal Revenue Service transforms the description of each movement into operational categories, which reduces ambiguities and facilitates large-scale technical handling.
Inflow, Outflow, and the Term “Transfer Out” for Unidentified Wallets
The detailing includes a sensitive point: the basis states that the term “transfer out” will be used for operations sent to unidentified wallets.
This creates a specific marker for situations where the destination is not clearly associated with an identifiable entity, which, in practice, requires extra attention from those reporting, especially service providers who need to fill standardized fields without knowing the full economic background of the transaction.
The basis also mentions specific categories for transfers made to unregulated services, which increases the granularity of reporting and reinforces the intention to map areas of greater informational risk.
Unregulated Services: The Section That Requires More Care in Reporting
When reporting begins to include specific categories for unregulated services, the implicit message is clear: the Federal Revenue Service wants to see more clearly operations that escape the traditional intermediation environment.
The basis text notes that these operations represent about 20% of the data already reported today, but now they form the basis for the complete structure of the declaration.
This number is important because it shows that this is not a rare detail: it is a significant slice of the reported universe.
The New Level of Detailing: How the Provider Describes the Origin of the Crypto Asset
The basis states that the auditor highlighted an increase in detail in the classification of inflows and outflows. In practice, the exchange or service provider must inform:
- how the asset came into the user’s possession
- what the nature of the operation was
This is a leap in complexity. Previously, reporting could focus on “what happened” in terms of exchange or transfer.
Now, the model attempts to capture also “how it happened” within a categorical standard, creating more layers of context.
The Observation Option Created After Public Consultation
One of the most operational points of the new model is the recognition of a practical limit: many providers do not know the complete economic context of the transaction.
Therefore, the new rule allows for including an observation like “the provider does not have all the information about the operation”.
According to the basis, this option came from the public consultation conducted by the Federal Revenue Service, which received various suggestions from the sector.
This detail is relevant for two reasons:
The Federal Revenue Service recognizes the asymmetry of information between those processing an operation and those who understand its economic motivation.
The system creates a formal field to record this limitation, instead of pushing the provider towards risky or incomplete classifications.
Unique Technical Standard and Data Sharing with Other Countries
The submission of the information will follow, according to the basis, a unique technical standard to ensure:
- international exchange
- efficient consolidation
The alignment with the global standard also has a practical consequence pointed out in the text: companies that already adopt the model in other countries will be able to use practically the same structure in Brazil.
And there is a point that draws attention due to its scope: the basis states that the reported information will be shared with other countries.
This reinforces that the framework is not just domestic; it is designed to operate in an environment of cooperation and data exchange.
July 2026: When Exchanges Will Adopt the DeCripto Module
According to Flavio Correa Prado, Brazilian exchanges will have to adopt the new DeCripto submission module starting in July 2026.
This milestone creates a clear temporal window:
- In 2025, the Federal Revenue Service announces the changes.
- In 2026, reporting becomes mandatory for the expanded set of operations.
- In July 2026, exchanges adopt the new submission module.
For the taxpayer, this calendar matters because it indicates when the reporting infrastructure is likely to consolidate within the operational flow of platforms.
Why the Federal Revenue Service is Changing: The Path Since IN 1,888 of 2019
The basis emphasizes that the transition did not occur suddenly. It began in 2019 when the Federal Revenue Service created Normative Instruction No. 1,888, described as a document that inaugurated a pioneering reporting system.
According to the auditor, this regulation:
- established fundamental concepts
- determined who should report operations
- defined which transactions needed to be communicated
The effect, according to the basis, was allowing the tax authorities to capture the first organized flow of data from this market.
Since then, the system has been receiving information about purchases, sales, exchanges, remittances, receipts, and other operations, mainly sent by exchanges and also by taxpayers who operate directly, without intermediaries.
What the Federal Revenue Service Uses These Data For: Accurate Declaration, Customs, and Combating Money Laundering
The basis text lists specific purposes for the set of information received by the Federal Revenue Service:
- to verify whether individuals and companies correctly declare earnings
- to support actions in customs control
- to strengthen mechanisms for combating money laundering
This trio explains the tightening of the model: when the goal is enforcement and control, standardization and completeness of data become essential.
The more “gaps” in reporting, the harder it is to cross-reference information consistently.
The Size of the Market: Between R$ 1 Billion and R$ 5 Billion per Month and Millions of Transactions
Over five years, the volume of information has reportedly grown rapidly. The basis states that today the declared operations total between R$ 1 billion and R$ 5 billion per month, reflecting millions of transactions.
There is also a point about public transparency: the Federal Revenue Service publishes part of this data in a anonymized manner, allowing the market to track trends without exposing taxpayers.
This detail helps to explain why some trends have become visible in public debate, such as the rise of stablecoins.
Stablecoins at the Center: Up to 90% of Operations and a Projection of US$ 9.8 Billion per Month
According to the auditor cited in the report, at the beginning of the system, Bitcoin dominated declarations. Now, stablecoins account for up to 90% of reported operations in certain months.
The basis also mentions a technical projection made based on open data: the monthly volume could reach about US$ 9.8 billion by the end of 2026, if the current pace is maintained.
This movement is also associated, according to the basis, with the behavior of users who perform operations outside exchanges.
Transactions in stablecoins executed directly by individuals and legal entities, in their own wallets or foreign platforms, would represent a significant part of the increase.
What Investors Need to Understand to Avoid Being Caught off Guard
With the new design, the practical message is that the Federal Revenue Service wants a complete map of the life cycle of the crypto asset, from the type of operation to the form of inflow and outflow, with standardized vocabulary.
Three points warrant attention, always based on what has been described:
- More operations will enter mandatory reporting in 2026, including transfers and payments.
- The classification changes to purchase, sale, exchange, inflow, outflow, and markers such as “transfer out.”
- The provider can register contextual limitations with the proposed observation, avoiding classification beyond what they know.
Do you think the Federal Revenue Service was right to require this level of detail in the cryptocurrency declaration, or will it make the process too complex for those making small daily operations?
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