It is almost a year since the Financial Superintendence of Colombia (Superfinanciera or SFC) will present the vision of Gustavo Petro’s government on the regulation of bitcoin (BTC).
At that time, Superintendent César Ferrari presented at an event the guidelines that, according to the Colombian government, should be included in a bill. The proposal places the main focus on establishing standards for the creation of virtual assets (VA) and for the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges (Virtual Asset Service Providers or PSAV).
A few days ago, Ricardo Bonilla, Minister of Finance, once again put the issue of cryptoasset regulation on the table, recalling that the country is making progress in developing a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency operations. He indicated that this framework will be added to the existing secondary rules for service providers with virtual assets, which generate reporting and compliance obligations for these activities.
These are advances in the regulation of the Colombian ecosystem that were also highlighted in January of this year by the minister, during his participation in the 2024 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. There he reiterated the Petro government’s desire to finalize the legislation. It was expected, therefore, a prompt presentation of the plan.
However, no new announcements are known so far, although communication between members of the ecosystem and government representatives remains active. Some publications have been made about this by Gabriel Santos, president of Colombia Fintech; and Mauricio Tovar, representative of the South American country before the Ibero-American Blockchain Alliance.
According to their statements, the regulation project is ready and remains in the hands of the National Executive. The proposal It is being processed mainly by government agenciesafter having formed a working group where the Ministry of Finance, the Financial Superintendency and the Bank of the Republic participated, along with trade organizations such as Colombia Fintech.
The authorities’ intention to develop the project and regulate the sector was taken as an important step for the country. Everything indicated that the proposal would be presented to Congress at the beginning of the legislature’s activities, last February, generating positive expectations about their progress.
“When the proposal is made public, the unions will begin to discuss this bill, which will then go to the Congress of the Republic where it will be subjected to four debates,” Santos said a few months ago, showing signs of enthusiasm because this time it will be passed. obtain approval of the proposal. This, after the setbacks suffered by the previous projects presented to the legislators.
However, Congress will close its session this June 20. The waiting time for the exchange regulation project to be presented is thus lengthened, although statements from the authorities indicate that the willingness to regulate remains in force.
Meanwhile, sectors linked to cryptocurrencies continue to call for the approval of a law in Colombia to be accelerated, highlighting the needs that cryptocurrency users have in the country. In this regard, the increasing level of adoption among Colombians is alleged, and the constant emergence of scams derived from ignorance about this ecosystem.
As CriptoNoticias has reported, there are studies that reveal the increase in interest in a “bitcoin law.” This is indicated by statistics obtained by the consulting company Sherlock Communications, which indicate that 78% of Colombians calls for legislation.
The clamor for a law is shared by businessmen and lawyers in the financial sector, who feel that Colombia is in “a gray zone in terms of bitcoin regulation.”
