Brazilian court empowers bank to inspect debtors crypto wallet
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Brazilian court empowers bank to inspect debtor's crypto wallet
A Brazilian court has ruled that a major commercial bank is allowed to inspect the crypto wallets of its debtors - and said that crypto has "monetary properties". According to media outlet Consultant Juridico, a branch of the Court of Justice of the State of So Paulo (known locally as TJ-SP) has made a special legal request from Banco Safra, one of the largest and busiest banks in the country. Gave.
The bank had asked the court to search a debtor's crypto wallet to see if they had tokens that could be liquidated. TJ-SP's Chamber of Private Law met to consider the matter after hearing that an unidentified debtor had defaulted on payments of approximately $289,000.
The bank had failed to convince TJ-SP in the first legal bid, at which time the presiding judge said it was not up to the court to allow "indiscriminate and precarious search of confiscations". But a panel of judges voted unanimously in favor of Banco Safra at the second hearing.
The presiding judge, Cesar Zalf, was quoted as saying that the fact that "there was no evidence to suggest that the defendant also possessed cryptocurrency" should not have been a deterrent to the bank, if it were to search the purse. wants to do Furthermore, the judge said, banks are not required to provide the courts with evidence that their debtors are cryptic– because allowing them to find the wallet would allow them to establish that fact.
Crypto Has 'Monetary' Properties, Court Rules
Judge Zelf also said that the monetary properties of crypto mean that tokens should be subject to the same rules that govern other assets in matters relating to debt recovery. The court also ruled that in such cases the banks would have to pay for the searches at their own expense.
The court said the bank would have to pay for any equipment or services required for its search. Police in the country have been investigating crypto fraudsters of late, while regulators say they want more power over the sector.