Brazil's House of Representatives approved a new bill authorizing the freezing of cryptocurrency balances held by suspects, raising the maximum prison sentence to 10 years.

CoinFeed reported on June 13 that, according to Livecoins, the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies' Committee on Finance and Taxation (CFT) has approved a bill to punish cyber fraud, authorizing the freezing of cryptocurrency balances of those under police investigation. The bill also proposes amendments to relevant articles of the Criminal Code to increase penalties for cybercriminals. Crimes committed through social media or telephone will be subject to harsher penalties, with those convicted of cyberattacks facing 6 to 10 years in prison, up from the previous 4 to 8 years. Furthermore, judges will have the power to freeze assets held by suspects in Bitcoin exchanges and bank accounts. Some preventative measures include freezing physical assets and prohibiting the use of payment systems. The bill will next be submitted to the Constitutional and Judicial Council (CCJ) for review and is expected to be finalized in the coming days.