Brazil’s judiciary has approved using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to serve subpoenas to unidentified people in a high-profile crypto fraud case. The choice is tied to the chapter case of BWA Brazil, a digital forex funding firm accused of fraud involving 11,200 bitcoins, that are at present valued at roughly $900 million.
The ruling comes in opposition to the backdrop of a authorized plea to halt the statute of limitations on claims associated to crypto property allegedly bought utilizing creditor funds. A court-appointed trustee overseeing BWA Brazil’s bankrupt property requested permission to serve digital subpoenas through NFTs.
The tokens, containing authorized paperwork backed by Brazil’s Public Prosecutor’s Workplace, can be transmitted to Bitcoin pockets addresses related to the disputed transactions.
Court docket determination accepts using NFT subpoenas
Within the ruling, the court docket doubled down on the necessity to defend the collectors, stating:
“Creditors who suffered multimillion-dollar losses can’t be additional harmed by legislative delays in maintaining with technological innovation. Due to this fact, I authorize the court-appointed trustee to take all obligatory actions to hold out notification of this interruptive protest [which pauses lawsuit deadlines] through digital communication utilizing NFTs.”
The measure is barely meant to focus on folks whose identities are unknown however whose Bitcoin blockchain actions may be tracked. The chapter property says that the 11,200 BTC have been purchased with cash from BWA Brazil’s purchasers earlier than the corporate went out of enterprise. Which means that the purchasers may very well be sued to get their a refund.
4 crypto exchanges, together with Bit Blue, Mercado Bitcoin, Brasiliex, and Bitcambio, have been instructed to inform pockets homeowners concerned within the case by forwarding copies of the court docket’s ruling and the preliminary authorized petition.
BWA Brazil: What’s occurred up to now
BWA Brazil was based in 2017 by Paulo Roberto Ramos Bilibio as an funding agency providing Bitcoin publicity. It attracted prospects with guarantees of mounted month-to-month returns of 5% on deposits, what economists coined as an unrealistic assure, given Bitcoin’s risky nature.
The corporate collapsed in early 2020 after freezing withdrawals and submitting for a Chapter 15 chapter petition, leaving traders with an estimated R$300 million in losses (roughly $52.2 million). Authorities later recognized BWA as one in every of Brazil’s largest alleged crypto pyramid schemes.
A Brazilian court docket let BWA undergo judicial assortment in July 2020. This can be a course of that helps firms pay again their money owed. Nonetheless, lower than a 12 months later, the court docket modified its thoughts and declared the agency bankrupt as a result of there was no proof that it had tried to pay again prospects.
Bilibio and his enterprise affiliate, Jessica da Silva Farias, are going through expenses for using shopper funds to purchase Bitcoin earlier than the corporate’s collapse. Nonetheless, each stay at giant, and there have been no reported arrests or profound sightings.
Brazil tightens restrictions on crypto investments for pension funds
On Monday, in a separate monetary coverage determination outlined in CMN Decision 5.202/2025, Brazil’s high monetary authority imposed new restrictions on crypto investments for pension funds.
Native information publications reported that the Nationwide Financial Council (CMN) has barred closed pension funds, often known as Entidades Fechadas de Previdência Complementar (EFPCs), from investing in Bitcoin or different digital property. The EFPCs handle retirement financial savings for unionized and company staff, historically investing in bonds and equities.
“The decision additionally prohibits investments in digital property, contemplating their particular funding traits and related danger,” a Ministry of Finance discover defined.
But, Brazilian residents are seemingly not very involved about crypto rules. A survey carried out by Datafolha and Paradigma Schooling, commissioned by Hashdex and Coinbase, discovered that amongst greater than 2,000 individuals, digital currencies ranked as Brazil’s fifth hottest funding possibility, with 16% of respondents holding digital property.
It was positioned behind conventional decisions similar to cash saved at house (24%) and funding funds (19%) however outperformed property like overseas forex, bonds, gold, and shares. Financial savings accounts remained probably the most most well-liked funding software, adopted by actual property, which attracted 31% of respondents.
