Yet another South American nation is embarking on the journey to becoming a powerhouse for cryptocurrency in the continent.
Related Reading: Memecoins Gained Traction Due To An ‘Oppressive Regime’ Of The SEC, Analyst Of Crypto States
A Bolivian financial institution has offered a custody service which is focused on US dollar pegged stablecoin Tether’s USDT which has given Bolivians a chance to invest in the digital currency.
Bolivia Begins Using Cryptocurrency
Bolivia, the country known for its diverse culture, joins other South American countries in the adoption of cryptocurrency.
In the past few weeks, one of the countries’ largest banks, Banco Bisa, started offering US dollar custodial services for Tether, USDT. This marked the entry of another cryptocurrency in the country which made the country the third direct neighbor of Brazil and Argentina which adopted digital currency embracing.
By providing the custody service, Banco Bisa will enable Bolivian citizens to trade USDT that is able to make the clients of the bank able to purchase, sell and store cryptocurrency, all of which will take place in a regulated and safe manner.
According to Hancock, changers and other major financial trading instruments are safe with the tether bank, and the new service being launched by the bank puts a high emphasis on safety and security.
Any movement discusses by Urquidi has to commence and finish within the accounts of the bank. This he argues guarantees control over the transactions.
He went on to say that especially in the case of Banco Bisa, allу its clients undergo significant verification.
Bolivia’s financial regulatory agency Autoridad de Supervision del Sistema Financiero (ASFI) backed Banco Bisa in offering a custody service for crypto.
President Yvette Espinoza ASFI representative spoke about the benefits of the new services to Bolivians considering that it enables its citizens to participate in the cryptocurrency market under regulations which are there to curb the dangers of currency trade, decentralized, unregulated currency.
It is known that cryptocurrency and bitcoin operations are illegal on the territory of Bolivia since 2014. Bolivians have been banned from using unregistered currencies.
Total crypto market cap currently at 2.3 trillion us dollars. Chart Trading View.
10 years on end and state authorities decided to change the position and replace the ban with enabling Bolivians to incorporate cryptocurrency the way it’s being normalized worldwide.
The change of stance was, however, defended by the state-owned Banco Central d Bolivia explaining that the country is in attempts to follow suit with the laws of the cryptocurrencies in the Latin America and boost its economy through opening up to new modes of investments.
In statistics, the number of crypto users in the region rose up by 16% as of 2020, up from just 6% in 2017, a sign that the populations are adopting the digital assets in South America.
For instance, another South American nation El Salvador recently resolved to adopt Bitcoin as an official currency in order to enhance its financial industry.