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Crypto Law/Level VIII · Around the world/8.1 The Americas/Lesson 7

The Americas compared

A side-by-side reading of the Americas’ crypto regimes in October 2026: who licenses platforms, how money and stablecoins are treated, how tax and reporting work, and what is still pending.

Education, not legal, tax or investment advice. Crypto law differs between countries and states and changes often. Check the current rules where you live with a qualified lawyer or tax adviser before you act.

The lean path

The cheapest, lowest-tax, simplest and most private route the law allows, best first. Each step names the rule it rests on and the condition that keeps it lawful.

  1. United States: hold over one year and the 2026 long-term rate is 0% on taxable income up to $49,450 single or $98,900 joint (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). Catch: higher income moves gains into the 15% or 20% bands.
  2. Brazil: monthly crypto sales up to R$35,000 on domestic providers are exempt from income tax. Catch: crypto held abroad falls under Lei 14.754’s annual 15% tax instead, and the DeCripto reporting applies from July 2026.
  3. Canada: only half of a capital gain is taxable, and exchange-listed crypto funds can sit in a TFSA, whose 2026 limit is $7,000, with tax-free growth. Catch: coins themselves are not qualified TFSA investments, and active trading can become fully taxed business income.
  4. El Salvador: its 2023 Digital Assets Issuance Law, article 36(b), exempts gains on transfers of digital assets from tax. Catch: home countries that tax citizens or former residents, such as the United States, still tax those gains.
  5. Everywhere: buy through a regulated platform and self-custody for holding. Catch: platform reporting is spreading, including US Form 1099-DA, Brazil’s DeCripto and the OECD’s CARF, so keep cost records that match what platforms report.

MaterialsA blank grid with one row per country and columns for licensing authority, legal status of crypto, stablecoin rules, tax and pending changesLessons 8.1.1 to 8.1.6 for the country detailsThe FATF’s Recommendation 15 materials on virtual asset service providers (lesson 1.3.7)

Wonder

  1. Is any country in the Americas clearly easier or stricter for crypto than the others?
  2. Why do some countries regulate crypto through central banks and others through securities regulators?
  3. Which of these rules are most likely to change in the next year?

Explore

  1. Comparing regimes works best with four fixed questions. Who licenses or registers crypto businesses? What legal label does crypto carry: property, security, foreign exchange or money? How are stablecoins treated? And how are individuals taxed and reported? Answering the same four questions for each country avoids the common error of comparing one country’s tax rule with another country’s licensing rule. The answers below are a snapshot as of October 2026; each country lesson (8.1.1 to 8.1.6) gives the sources and the details, and the jurisdiction lesson (1.1.4) explains why a business serving residents of several countries usually needs to satisfy all of them.
  2. Licensing follows four models. The United States splits the job: federal agencies police activities, while states license businesses through money-transmitter laws, New York’s BitLicense and, from 1 July 2026, California’s Digital Financial Assets Law (lesson 8.1.1). Canada uses provincial securities law, treating custodial platform accounts as crypto contracts and binding platforms with pre-registration undertakings (lesson 8.1.2). Brazil and Uruguay place crypto businesses with the central bank, Brazil through the 2026 SPSAV authorisation regime (lesson 8.1.3). Argentina and Chile use their securities regulators, the CNV and the CMF, while Mexico keeps crypto away from banks and licensed fintechs and supervises exchanges mainly through anti-money-laundering law (lesson 8.1.4).
  3. On money, the region has tried everything. El Salvador made bitcoin legal tender in 2021 and, from January 2025, made acceptance voluntary under an IMF programme (lesson 8.1.5). Venezuela created a state coin and closed it in January 2024. Bolivia lifted a ban in June 2024 while insisting the boliviano is the only legal tender (lesson 8.1.6). Elsewhere, crypto is treated as property or a financial asset rather than money: in the United States, IRS Notice 2014-21 treats it as property for tax. Brazil adds a twist, treating international crypto transfers as foreign-exchange operations under Resolution BCB 521.
  4. Stablecoins are getting their own statutes. The US GENIUS Act, signed on 18 July 2025, creates permitted issuers, requires at least one-for-one reserves and bars paying holders interest, and it takes effect by 18 January 2027 at the latest (lesson 3.2.4). Canada’s Stablecoin Act received royal assent on 26 March 2026 and will put non-bank issuers of fiat-backed stablecoins under the Bank of Canada, with reserves, redemption at par and no interest, once in force. The two laws are similar in shape, which matters for issuers that want to serve both markets. In Latin America, stablecoins are mostly handled within general crypto or foreign-exchange rules.
  5. Tax and reporting are converging on visibility. The United States requires brokers to report on Form 1099-DA (lesson 1.3.3). Canada taxes crypto gains as business income or capital gains, with one half of a capital gain included in income. Brazil exempts individuals’ domestic crypto sales up to R$35,000 a month, taxes foreign holdings at 15% under Lei 14.754 and moved exchange reporting to the DeCripto from July 2026. Mexico and Argentina impose anti-money-laundering reporting on providers. The international layer, the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, is covered in lesson 7.2.7; its reach in each country should be checked separately.
  6. Several items were open in October 2026. In the US, the CLARITY Act stalled after a failed Senate cloture vote on 15 September 2026, and GENIUS Act rules were still being written. Canada’s Stablecoin Act was not yet in force. Brazil’s transition window for existing providers to apply for authorisation was closing in late October 2026, and Argentina’s CNV had just reordered its PSAV regime. A practical exercise: fill the four-question grid for the countries that matter to you, mark each cell as in force, pending or proposed, and date it, because any comparison of these regimes goes out of date quickly.

Key facts

  • In the United States, crypto businesses are licensed mainly by states, while federal agencies such as the SEC, CFTC, FinCEN and OFAC regulate activities.
  • Canada regulates crypto trading platforms through provincial and territorial securities law, coordinated by the Canadian Securities Administrators.
  • Brazil’s central bank authorisation regime for virtual asset service providers took effect on 2 February 2026.
  • El Salvador made bitcoin legal tender in 2021 and amended its law on 29 January 2025 so that private-sector acceptance is voluntary.
  • The US GENIUS Act and Canada’s Stablecoin Act both require stablecoin reserves at least equal to outstanding coins and bar paying holders interest.
  • In October 2026 the US CLARITY Act had not passed the Senate and Canada’s Stablecoin Act was not yet in force.

Exercise nine, six, three, one

9CollectList up to 9 countries in the Americas where you, your customers or your counterparties are based.
6ClusterSort them into 6 groups by licensing model: state-by-state, securities regulator, central bank, anti-money-laundering registration only, special experiment, or unclear.
3DistillReduce the 6 to 3: the groups where a pending change would affect you most in the next year.
1CrystallizeWrite 1 sentence naming the country whose crypto rules you would need to check first, and the single question you would ask about it.

Fact check

Dates, figures and claims checked against the published sources listed below.

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