Despite the drop in prices in recent months, Brazilians remain dynamic when it comes to buying cryptocurrencies, and last year’s figures show that they set a new record in May.
According to reports from the Portal do Bitcoin media portal, based on trade balance data from the Brazilian Central Bank, the country’s residents bought US$912 million worth of cryptocurrencies in May, the highest value in the country’s history.
It is worth noting that the data for May is the last published by this institution, and the results for the following months of June, July, and August are not yet known.
While in the fifth month of this year, the number of cryptocurrency purchases was consolidated at US$912 million, as mentioned above, in the same month last year, it was US$756 million.
According to Diario Bitcoin, “Brazilians bought a total of US$3.2 billion in cryptocurrencies between January and May 2022, when registration with the Central Bank ends (for now).
This was a 33% increase from the same period in 2021 when the total was US$2.4 billion.
A look at past years shows that Brazilians bought US$864 million worth of cryptocurrencies in 2018; in 2019, the total was US$3 billion; in 2020 and 2021, the result was US$3.3 billion and US$5.9 billion, respectively.
“The bank’s director of monetary policy, Bruno Serra, said last October that Brazilian investments in crypto assets abroad are potentially three times larger than those in U.S. equities,” according to Diario Bitcoin.
However, the official said: “It’s a one-way flow. Due to the energy cost, Brazil does not produce cryptocurrencies but is only an importer.
In addition, the O’Globo newspaper reported that the prototype of the central bank’s digital currency, the digital real, will be ready for field testing “at the beginning of the second quarter of 2023.
“Testing is already underway in a closed pilot project conducted in conjunction with crypto, blockchain, and banking companies.