Although the bill that sought to give a legal floor to the activity of cryptocurrencies did not manage to finish its passage through Congress, On July 20, a new initiative will be presented in which the Government and the Bank of the Republic are expected to make contributions.
(See: The Issuer will be in the ‘blockchain’ pilot for high-value systems)
And despite the fact that the Government did not support him in the three debates that took place, the Minister of Finance, Ricardo Bonilla, said at the last Banking Convention that cryptocurrencies “they are a reality” and that “there are interests in regulating crypto assets. To those who have this interest, we are telling them that, first, they have to guarantee the autonomy and independence of the Banco de la República and that there can be no other source of primary issuance other than the bank.”.
Bonilla said that cryptocurrency operations are “financial operations” and “should be reviewed and regulated” by the Financial Superintendency.
“These are the issues that the regulation of crypto assets should consider. The Bank is interested in making progress on the matter. Crypto assets are a reality, but we cannot allow them to be put in any way”said.
For his part, César Ferrari, Financial Superintendent, assured that: “I personally tell you that this crypto-asset market, which is not assets, which is not a financial market, does not have to be in the care of the Superfinanciera” and added that “they have nothing to do” with the functions of the Superintendence of Finance , whose obligations are related to monitoring financial assets”.
(More news: Deutsche Bank launches into cryptos: requested a license to guard them)
And he went further, as he assured that the world of cryptoactives seems to him “extremely obscure”, because “you know who demands the crypto assets, but you have no idea where they originate”.
It must be remembered that under the direction of Jorge Castaño’s organization, A pilot was carried out with banking actors and cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the Sandbox at Arenera.
Andrés Gómez, country manager of the Chilean platform Cryptomarket said that the sector in Colombia has requested the regulation of the activity “To be able to provide users who want to enter this investment, guarantee, confidence and security” and that an official list of accredited platforms be approved, with proven experience and technical resources. He assured that Cryptomarket has protocols for customer identification and for the prevention of money laundering.
For Senator Gustavo Moreno, of the Alianza Verde-Centro Esperanza and member of the Seventh Commission, in Colombia there are five million people who trade crypto assets and a legal framework is needed to prevent money laundering and scams.
He stressed that the new project is being arranged with the authorities and they will be the ones who decide which entities will monitor and update the regulatory framework. Karen Duque, Bitso’s head of Public Policy for Colombia, said that the country has already taken significant steps towards the development of a more transparent and reliable crypto industry, which was demonstrated with the arrival of the project at the last stage of the procedure.
assured that “It is a strong message about the need and urgency of achieving a regulation that allows the official recognition of crypto platforms that operate in the country.”
(More news: These are the 5 most traded cryptocurrencies in Colombia).
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Colombia, in the ‘top 10’
According to Cryptomarket, at an international level Colombia is in the ranking of the 10 countries with the highest volume of trading with cryptocurrencies, with figures close to US$200 million per month.
(Read more: The project for the exchange of crypto assets is approved in the third debate)
The most traded are bitcoin, ethereum and the stablecoins usdt and usdc which are cryptocurrencies pegged to the price of the US dollar. Analysts say these increased market capitalization.
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