The central bank will be in charge of issuing measures for controlling and safeguarding crypto assets. The financial institution will receive advice from a crypto asset group.
The Central Bank of Cuba stipulated the documents that natural or legal persons must submit to obtain a license as cryptocurrency exchanges.
In Official Gazette No. 43, the financial institution appoints up to 10 records or validations to consider the requests. First, the interested parties must issue a document formalizing the request to the central bank.
That document must provide details about the business proposal with a description of the operating model. It must also indicate the virtual assets it offers, the platform, and the cryptographic standard.
Those interested in the license must also prove that they adhere to the regulations of their country if they are foreigners. The applicants must even provide evidence of the corporate organization, its infrastructure, internal controls, and offices.
Concerning the application of standards, these must include the know-your-customer (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML), and anti-terrorism financing (ATF) protocols. In the latter case, they must present the procedures they plan to apply in their prevention system.
The bank will also force companies to apply the so-called travel rule to reduce the risk of misuse of platforms or services. In that way, any transaction above USD 1,000 must protect the personal data of the originator and the beneficiary.
Interested companies or persons must advance the initial capital for developing authorized activities or operations to the authorities. The bank attempts to distinguish the amount according to the various activities and risks.
Other Procedures to Follow to Operate with Bitcoin in Cuba
Those wanting to be providers of crypto asset services must legalize the documents before the Cuban consular officer in their country of origin. After they do it again at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they must notarize them before a notary public in Cuba.
The Cuban authorities also highlighted that the applicants also need the approval of the General Directorate of Investigation of Financial Operations of the central bank.
In the seventh section of the Gazette, the bank acknowledges that the application process can be less complex. The reason is that there could be fewer bureaucratic mechanisms.
The central bank stated they could simplify the procedures and establish simpler compliance forms depending on the requests for licenses and types of operations.
They indicated that the issued licenses would be valid for one year and extendable for another year. It is relevant to remember that the bank will be in charge of authorizing which cryptocurrencies people can exchange in the territory.
The Caribbean country legalized services with Bitcoin and other crypto assets, opening themselves to new investments in the territory. That decision adds to the legislation already approved in Panama, El Salvador, and the Central African Republic.
Lawyer and advisor Camilo JorajurÃa, a partner of the NGO Bitcoin Argentina, gave his opinion on that historic decision. The analyst considers that the new Cuban regulation recognizes the human right to operate with Bitcoin.
By Alexander Salazar
