PSAV

Key points

• PSAV stands for provedor de serviços de ativos virtuais (virtual asset service provider), a category defined under Brazilian legislation for companies in the sector.
• It covers those who provide services such as intermediation, trading, transfer, and custody of virtual assets.
• It is subject to regulation and supervision, with compliance duties that include anti-money laundering measures.

What is a PSAV?

PSAV is the Portuguese acronym for provedor de serviços de ativos virtuais (virtual asset service provider). It is a category established in the Brazilian legal framework to designate companies that offer services involving virtual assets, such as cryptocurrencies. The creation of this category sought to give formal standing to a sector that previously operated with little regulatory definition, establishing who is subject to specific rules and to the supervision of authorities.

How it works

Broadly speaking, a company is considered a PSAV if it provides, on behalf of third parties, services related to virtual assets, such as intermediating purchases and sales, enabling exchanges between assets, transferring funds, or holding clients' assets in custody. Once a company falls into this category, it becomes subject to a set of obligations and to the supervision of the competent authority, which in Brazil was assigned to the central bank under the sector's legal framework.

Among the typical duties of a PSAV are those related to compliance and the integrity of the financial system. These include customer identification procedures, prevention of money laundering and financing of illicit activities, sanctions screening, attention to politically exposed persons, as well as governance and transparency requirements. The idea is that, by operating under clear rules, the sector gains more security for users and greater integration with the financial system.

The regime applicable to PSAVs in Brazil was structured based on a specific law that delegated detailed regulation to the central bank, which has been defining the rules for authorization, operation, and supervision. Since this is a relatively recent framework, the specific rules, deadlines, and authorization requirements are still being built and evolving. For this reason, whether a company is concretely classified as a PSAV and which obligations apply depend on the rules in force and should be verified with official sources.

Understanding the concept of PSAV helps explain how the virtual asset sector came to be regulated in Brazil.

Why it matters

Understanding what a PSAV is helps explain how the crypto sector came to have a formal framework in Brazil and what duties fall on the companies that provide these services. For a company in the sector, it is a central concept. This is an educational explanation and does not represent legal or compliance guidance.

Risks and limitations

The PSAV regime in Brazil is recent and still evolving, with authorization and supervision rules still being detailed. The concrete classification and the applicable obligations depend on the rules in force. This text is educational and does not replace professional guidance or consultation of official sources and the rules applicable to each case. </content>