Bitcoin volume traded in Brazil rises 73% in one year, to R$ 64.3 billion

In 2020, the volume was at R$ 34.1 billion, yet transactions with the cryptocurrency reached R$ 64.3 billion last year, an increase of 73.3% (according to the Federal Revenue of Brazil) - this increase was mainly driven by the adhesion of companies. By the end of 2021, it was recorded that 459 companies declared transactions in BTC, while in 2020, only 205 thousand. Regarding individual investors, there was a 45% increase from the end of 2020 to the end of 2021, from 4647 to 6775 investors. 
The increase in demand was mostly due to the valorization of BTC, which reached all-time highs last year. In November, the cryptocurrency hit a record of US$ 69,000. 
Despite this, the peak of the transaction volume in Brazil occurred during the first semester of the year. From January to May, Brazilians traded more that R$ 7 billion every month. However, by July, the number of transactions reduced, when the cryptocurrency was worth around US$ 28,000. Trades regained strength in the second semester of the year, yet they weren't as much as they had been during the first semester.
On the other hand, the price of Bitcoin was not the only catalyst for the soaring volumes of BTC trades in Brazil. According to Ney Pimenta, CEO of BitPreço: "The Brazilian economic scenario helped a lot". For the specialist, the depreciation of the Brazilian Real motivated investors to go for riskier assets, but which promised greater profitability, such as Bitcoin. This also benefitted other crypto currencies. According to the IRS, Brazilians traded R$7.7 billion in Chiliz (CHZ), R$7.1 billion in XRP (XRP), R$2.3 billion in Litecoin (LTC) and another R$1.6 billion in Cardano (ADA) and Dogecoin (DOGE).
Stablecoins and cryptocurrencies that have parity with another asset, usually the dollar, were also in high demand and outperformed Bitcoin in the last year. In a year, the Revenue recorded R$ 73.3 billion traded in a variety of cryptos of this type, the majority in Tether (USDT)
Written by: Henrique Sampaio
Edited by: Anna Kissajikian