Bancolombia will offer its customers access to selected cryptocurrencies. Support in this area is provided by the American exchange Winkelvoss Brothers, for which this is part of the expansion of the Latin continent.
Bancolombia expands its offer
Already on December 14, the Gemini exchange will begin an official partnership with Colombia’s largest bank. Thus, Bancolombia customers will gain access to four of the assets available on the exchange. They include Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). However, it is not clear how much of the bank’s customers will be able to invest their funds in cryptocurrencies, or whether it will be possible to withdraw their funds outside the banking space.
For Gemini, this is very important information. Representatives of the exchange point out how important it is for them to expand into South America. The official announcement on December 6 states:
“We believe that cryptocurrencies can play an important role in the development of Latin America as interest in blockchain and innovative technologies spreads throughout the region.”
Gemini’s partnership with Bancolombia will take place as part of a one-year pilot plan led by Colombia’s financial regulator Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (SFC). The so-called regulatory Sandbox called “la Arena” was approved by the country’s Ministry of Finance and Public Credit back in September 2020.
As reported by the SFC, 14 exchanges applied for the project. Nine were selected from among them, to finally emerge the winner, in the form of Gemini.
The importance of Latin America
Gemini is an exchange offering its services in 60 jurisdictions. Among them are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay. Bancocolombia, on the other hand, is a financial institution that also goes beyond its native country. It is available in countries such as Panama, Guatemala, or the recently famous El Salvador. For the stock exchange, which gains access to the group of clients of a bank so common in the region, it is a gate through which, with the favor of subsequent regulators, it will be possible to conduct further market expansion.
It is worth noting here that South America is the third continent in the world with the highest adoption of cryptocurrencies. Countries in this region are often affected by significant economic problems, and their citizens often look for opportunities to protect their capital from losses.
El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender has also left its mark beyond the borders of this small country. According to many market experts, Latin America is the region that will benefit the most from cryptocurrency adoption in the near future.
