Lemon Squeezes Out of Brazil 🇧🇷 — Capital Rules Prove Too Sour to Swallow

Argentina-based crypto platform Lemon is winding down all operations in Brazil, with local accounts set to close on October 16, 2026, citing capital requirements from Brazil's central bank licensing regime as "disproportionate" to the scale of its Brazilian business.

The shutdown affects roughly 15,000 users in Brazil, where new BRL deposits have already been disabled. Lemon Card, the company's Visa product launched in partnership with Pomelo, will stop processing payments on September 30. Lemon said it will notify each remaining user and assist with withdrawals ahead of the October deadline.

The decision comes under Brazil's PSAV framework, which went live on February 2, 2026. The first-phase license filing deadline is October 30, with the central bank setting capital thresholds that companies must meet to operate as virtual asset service providers. Lemon concluded that meeting those thresholds was not justified by the size of its Brazilian customer base.

The exit does not affect Lemon's operations in Argentina, Peru, or Colombia, where the company is redirecting capital and resources. Lemon framed the move as a capital allocation choice tied to regulatory economics rather than a reflection of customer demand in Brazil, with the Brazilian unit's balance sheet too small to justify the licensing investment.

Brazil's PSAV regime has been one of the more capital-intensive virtual asset frameworks in Latin America, requiring applicants to demonstrate minimum capital commensurate with the scope of activities they intend to conduct. Several international and regional crypto firms have publicly weighed the costs of compliance against their local transaction volumes since the rules took effect earlier this year.

Lemon joins a growing list of crypto companies reassessing their footprint in Brazil as the licensing clock ticks toward the October 30 filing cutoff, with the broader Brazilian market continuing to attract larger competitors able to absorb the capital requirements.