The leading financial regulatory body in Brazil has prohibited certain pension funds from investing in cryptocurrencies, citing excessive risk.
The National Monetary Council (CMN) has banned closed pension entities, known as Entidades Fechadas de Previdência Complementar (EFPCs), from allocating any part of their guarantee reserves to bitcoin (BTC) or other digital currencies.
The EFPCs oversee retirement savings for numerous workers employed through unions and companies, primarily investing in bonds and stocks.
“The resolution also disallows investments in virtual assets due to their unique investment characteristics and inherent risks,” stated a Ministry of Finance announcement that has circulated among regional news sources.
This decision was formalized last week under Resolution 5.202/2025 issued by the National Monetary Council.
In contrast, last year, a British pension expert guided the country’s pioneering pension fund to allocate 3% of its assets to bitcoin. Additionally, several U.S. states have begun to explore crypto investments for their pension systems, despite caution at the federal level. For instance, Wisconsin’s state investment board revealed in February that it had invested $340 million in bitcoin via BlackRock’s ETF (IBIT).
The new regulation does not seem to affect open pension funds or individual retirement products offered by banks and insurance companies. These entities are regulated differently and may enable indirect investments through exchange-traded funds or tokenized asset platforms.