Colombia is on the verge of radical change in its economic profile while Colombian legislators advance with developed regulations of cryptocurrencies. According to El ColombianoSenator Gustavo Monero and Julian Lopez, member of the House of Representatives, submitted a proposal to the Congress on March 3 for the legislation.
The objective behind this legislation is to balance innovation and financial security, signaling the government’s desire to adapt to the evolving digital economy. With so many nations already to come in the aspect of regulations on digital assets, Colombia has decided to improve its footprint in the cryptocurrency space.
According to reports, around five million Colombians exchanged cryptocurrency. However, this has also led to an increase in the number of cryptographic scams and pyramid diagrams. This dilemma is due to the non -regulated cryptographic ecosystem in Colombia.
Legislative pressure for regulations among Colombian legislators
Colombia has been a key contributor to the global cryptocurrency market. International research places the country in the first 15 countries dealing with cryptographic assets, noting that there is a huge internal market and an instant need for transparent regulatory mechanisms.
The proposed bill describes the framework for the regulation of activities related to cryptography, describing 16 articles which cover market surveillance, taxation, market promotion, etc. The areas of anti-whiteness and fight against terrorism financing measures are also covered by the proposed bill.
After having failed in their attempt to propose the bill to the congress last year, Senator Gustavo Monero and Julian Lopez finally succeeded this year. Monero shared that Colombia must establish a regulatory framework to control exchanges and cryptographic companies.
According to Julian Lopez, “the project seeks to have clear rules of the game to generate a reliable and more attractive ecosystem for investment with guarantees for this emerging industry.”
Senator Gustavo Monero also shared that the lack of regulation of Colombia does not offer cryptography services with appropriate regulations; Therefore, there will be improper use of cryptographic assets and inadequate security measures in place.
A key element of this proposal is the launch of a license system for virtual asset service providers (VSAP). Once adopted, crypto service providers will have to obtain the necessary licenses before being authorized to operate in Colombia. This solves the problem of basins operating in an unregulated environment and improves customer protection.
Colombia’s cryptography market takes action towards advancement
The Colombia bill proposed for cryptographic regulations reflect the avant-garde approach to the legislators to keep up with the pace of the digital economy. According to a 2024 report of Chain-analysisThe country has been classified among the first five countries in Latin America for cryptographic transactions.
Colombia has also explored the advantages of Central Bank digital currency (CBDC), as the country’s central bank has teamed up with Ripple to test CBDC solutions to improve its local payment system.
With the new bill proposal, the introduction of complete cryptocurrency regulations will be a central moment for the financial sector of Colombia.
