Brazil's new Finance Minister Dario Durigan plans to shelve a public consultation on crypto taxation as the government shifts its focus toward the country's October presidential election, according to two sources who spoke with Reuters.

Durigan took office Friday after predecessor Fernando Haddad stepped down to run for governor of Sao Paulo. He intends to avoid spending political capital in Congress on divisive tax measures during an election year, the sources said.

The shelved consultation had been anticipated as the next step in Brazil's evolving crypto framework. In November, Brazil's central bank finalized rules that brought crypto service providers under existing financial sector regulations, requiring them to obtain authorization to operate, The Block previously reported. Those rules also placed stablecoin transactions and the use of virtual assets for international transfers under foreign exchange market oversight.

Central bank chief Gabriel Galipolo said earlier this year that domestic crypto usage has surged over the past three years, with roughly 90% of flows linked to stablecoins, according to Reuters. The Finance Ministry consultation was meant to address the tax treatment of those flows.

The crypto delay is part of a broader fiscal pause. A separate proposal to end tax exemptions on investment securities like credit letters, which failed to advance in Congress last year, may now be deferred to a new presidential mandate starting in 2027, Reuters reported.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva asked Durigan, 41, to be the "new face of Brazil's economy," emphasizing economic development and a favorable business environment, the sources said. Lula faces a tight reelection race, with polls showing him in a potential runoff against Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.

Durigan's legislative priorities will instead include big tech economic regulation, financial institution crisis management rules, and the Redata data center investment program, per the report.

Latin America's largest crypto market

Brazil ranks fifth globally and first in Latin America on Chainalysis' Global Crypto Adoption Index, with roughly $318.8 billion in crypto value received between July 2024 and June 2025. The country has attracted growing institutional crypto interest, with Paradigm making its first Brazil investment in December, backing real-pegged stablecoin startup Crown in a $13.5 million Series A.

Service providers covered by the central bank's November rules still face a compliance deadline of November 2026. But with the tax consultation now on hold, the fiscal treatment of the transactions those providers facilitate will remain undefined at least through the election.