BRAZIL · BUSINESS · CRYPTO
Key Facts
- The country Brazil, Latin America’s largest economy, reviews big global deals through its competition authority, even when the business is run from abroad.
- What happened Brazil’s competition authority approved, without conditions, the Visa, Mastercard stablecoin venture with Coinbase, Stripe and Shopify.
- The decision The ruling was signed on Wednesday 14 October and published in Brazil’s official gazette on Thursday 15 October.
- The coin Open USD, a crypto token pegged to the US dollar, launched on 30 September and is run by the founders’ company, Open Standard.
- Why it matters Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase and Shopify trade on US stock exchanges, and their joint dollar token has now cleared a regulatory hurdle in Brazil.
- Still open The coin is not offered in Brazil for now, and the approval can still be challenged within 15 days of publication.
- Power Index Brazil ranks 1st of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 75.0 points (October 2026 edition).
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Brazil’s antitrust authority has cleared the Visa, Mastercard stablecoin venture with Coinbase, Stripe and Shopify, attaching no conditions. The decision, dated Wednesday 14 October, appeared in Brazil’s official gazette on Thursday 15 October.
For US investors, it is a win in Latin America’s largest economy for a dollar token backed by four US-listed companies and privately held Stripe. Stripe says businesses can already send the coin, Open USD, to crypto wallets in more than 100 countries.
What Brazil’s Competition Authority Decided
Cade, the Administrative Council for Economic Defence, is Brazil’s federal antitrust authority, linked to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Brazilian law requires mergers and joint ventures to be submitted to it when the groups involved reach set sales thresholds in Brazil.
This decision came from its General Superintendence, the investigating arm, which can clear deals without sending them to Cade’s tribunal. Felipe Leitão Valadares Roquete, the acting superintendent-general, signed the decision with the words “Decido pela aprovação sem restrições”, meaning approval without restrictions.
The ruling appeared in the Diário Oficial da União, Brazil’s official gazette, on Thursday 15 October. The applicants were Coinbase and units of Stripe, Visa, Mastercard and Shopify, the five companies behind the venture.
Cade had made the filing public on 30 September, in a notice published in the gazette on Thursday 1 October. It listed the deal as a joint venture in “emissão de stablecoin”, the issuing of stablecoins, two weeks before the ruling.
What Open USD Is and Who Stands Behind It
A stablecoin is a crypto token whose issuer holds reserves so that each coin keeps a steady value, in this case one US dollar. Such tokens let money move between digital wallets at any hour, without waiting for bank transfers to clear.
Stripe announced on Wednesday 30 September that Open USD had launched that day. It said Open Standard is an independent company founded by Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe and Visa.
Businesses can convert between dollars and Open USD at no cost, while Open Standard charges a small transaction fee, according to Stripe. Partners that adopt the coin earn rewards, and Stripe Treasury accounts can be funded with it from wallets on four blockchains.
Brazil’s business magazine Exame reported that the US fund manager BlackRock and the US banks Lead Bank and BNY are named for the reserves. It added that the Visa and Mastercard stablecoin group, first announced in June, counts more than 140 companies that plan to use the token.
Visa and Mastercard run global card networks, Coinbase runs a US crypto exchange, and Stripe processes online payments for businesses. Shopify, based in Canada, sells software that merchants use to run online stores.
Live Market IntelligenceBrazil — Live Market Board
Rio Times · Live Market Intelligence
Brazil — Live Market Board
-0.18%
206,505.98
-0.18%
66,659.01
-0.46%
10,966.21
-0.49%
2,835,843
-1.16%
2,582.29
+0.46%
60,511.74
-1.60%
| Instrument | Last | Change | YoY | Prev. | High | Low | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IBOV | 206,505.98 | -0.18% | +21.85% | 206,887.52 | 168,310 | 167,142 | — |
| USD/BRL | 5.16 | +0.01% | -5.13% | 5.16 | 5.18 | 5.14 | — |
| SELIC | 14.00% | — | — | — | — | — | |
| PETR4 | 41.64 | -0.05% | +35.19% | 41.66 | 41.97 | 41.15 | 41,499,400 |
| VALE3 | 72.97 | +0.83% | +30.75% | 72.37 | 73.54 | 72.66 | 17,658,000 |
| ITUB4 | 38.60 | -1.03% | +4.57% | 39.00 | 39.34 | 38.39 | 29,487,800 |
| BBDC4 | 16.85 | +0.36% | +3.50% | 16.79 | 16.90 | 16.67 | 19,416,900 |
| BBAS3 | 19.37 | +0.47% | +0.73% | 19.28 | 19.44 | 19.16 | 11,069,200 |
| B3SA3 | 14.26 | -0.21% | +12.73% | 14.29 | 14.47 | 14.11 | 33,037,800 |
| ABEV3 | 14.89 | -0.80% | +21.91% | 15.01 | 15.07 | 14.81 | 16,453,100 |
| WEGE3 | 47.59 | +0.49% | +29.99% | 47.36 | 48.08 | 47.36 | 3,364,600 |
| PRIO3 | 59.14 | -0.19% | +50.67% | 59.25 | 59.81 | 58.74 | 3,325,600 |
| SUZB3 | 41.33 | +2.35% | -23.55% | 40.38 | 41.48 | 40.35 | 3,914,900 |
| RENT3 | 34.68 | -0.09% | +0.84% | 34.71 | 34.96 | 34.35 | 7,979,100 |
| AZZA3 | 15.89 | -2.63% | -53.76% | 16.32 | 16.42 | 15.82 | 1,330,300 |
| CSNA3 | 4.30 | +0.47% | -42.65% | 4.28 | 4.41 | 4.26 | 10,076,100 |
| GGBR4 | 24.69 | +2.19% | +51.38% | 24.16 | 24.85 | 24.18 | 7,047,600 |
| ENEV3 | 24.21 | -1.38% | +70.49% | 24.55 | 24.64 | 23.99 | 9,297,000 |
Why Cade Saw No Competition Problem
Exame reported that Cade’s analysis found no horizontal overlap, meaning no competing businesses being combined, for Open Standard in Brazil or Latin America. Cade put the founders’ share of local stablecoin issuance at zero.
The filing, as quoted by Exame, says the token is launched from the United States and is not being offered in Brazil for now. That leaves Brazilian users of Visa, Mastercard and Stripe services with no immediate change.
The five founders told Cade they have no intention of changing their support for other companies’ stablecoins, Exame reported. Stripe will keep distributing USDC and USDP, coins from the US firms Circle and Paxos, while Visa and Mastercard keep settling transactions in USDC.
How Brazil and the US Police Stablecoins
Brazil’s central bank already treats dollar tokens as a foreign-exchange matter. Under Resolution BCB 521 of 10 November 2025, buying, selling or swapping crypto tokens pegged to a government-issued currency counts as a foreign-exchange operation.
Most of those rules took effect on Monday 2 February 2026, and the rest on Monday 4 May 2026. Latin Americans already use dollar tokens widely, a trend set out in this guide to stablecoins in Latin America.
In the United States, President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act, the federal law on stablecoins, on Friday 18 July 2025. The White House says it requires issuers to hold 100% reserves in liquid assets such as US dollars or short-term Treasuries.
What It Means for You
If you hold Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase or Shopify shares, the Brazilian ruling removes one regulatory question for the Visa and Mastercard stablecoin project. It brings no Brazilian sales for now, because the coin is not yet offered in Brazil.
If you live or do business in Brazil, nothing changes at the checkout or in your bank app for now. Any later Brazilian rollout would have to follow the central bank’s crypto and exchange rules described above.
For companies that pay suppliers across borders, Open USD becomes one more dollar token to watch beside USDC and other coins already in use. Stablecoin users still face price, custody and regulatory risks that a competition ruling does not address.
What Is Not Known
The size of each founder’s stake in the Mastercard stablecoin company, Open Standard, has not been made public. No date has been given for any launch of Open USD in Brazil.
Under Article 65 of Brazil’s competition law, interested third parties can appeal to Cade’s tribunal within 15 days of publication. A councillor can also ask the tribunal to review the case, which would suspend the deal until a final ruling.
More: Brazil news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Brazil approve about the Visa and Mastercard stablecoin?
Cade, Brazil’s antitrust authority, approved without conditions the Visa, Mastercard stablecoin joint venture formed with Coinbase, Stripe and Shopify to run Open USD. The decision is dated 14 October 2026 and was published in the official gazette on 15 October.
Can people in Brazil use Open USD now?
Not yet, because the filing says the token is launched from the United States and is not being made available in Brazil for now. A later Brazilian launch would fall under the central bank’s crypto and foreign-exchange rules.
Why does a Brazilian regulator review a US crypto venture?
Brazilian law requires mergers and joint ventures to be submitted to Cade when the groups involved reach set sales thresholds in Brazil. Cade put the founders’ share of stablecoin issuance in Brazil at zero, so the Mastercard stablecoin venture raised no competition concern.
Is the approval final?
Not entirely, because third parties can appeal to Cade’s tribunal within 15 days of the 15 October publication. A tribunal councillor can also call the case in for review, which would put the approval on hold.
Sources: Diário Oficial da União, Cade General Superintendence, Despachos SG of 14 October 2026, No. 1.327, Ato de Concentração 08700.009379/2026-85, 15 October 2026; Diário Oficial da União, Cade General Superintendence, Edital No. 744 of 30 September 2026, 1 October 2026; Stripe, OUSD is now available on Stripe, 30 September 2026; Exame, Cade aprova joint venture de Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase e Stripe para criar stablecoin, 14 October 2026; Planalto, Law 12,529/2011 (Brazilian competition law), Articles 4, 65 and 88, 30 November 2011; Banco Central do Brasil, Resolution BCB No. 521, 10 November 2025; The White House, fact sheet on the signing of the GENIUS Act, 18 July 2025.
This article was drafted with automated assistance and reviewed before publication. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief