According to Guillermo Torrealba, the law does not consider cryptocurrency companies “special”. The CEO of Buda considers that complying with regulations can help avoid “anti-crypto” policies.
According to Guillermo Torrealba, CEO of the Chilean exchange Buda, cryptocurrency companies, must adapt to government regulations, including the requirement for data about their customers. He believes that, if they did not do it, the future of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies would be in danger in the region.
In recent days, Torrealba stated that there are regulations that cryptocurrency companies cannot skip, beyond defending the privacy of their users.
The executive reflected that the fact that they are a cryptocurrency company does not mean that they are “special”. Furthermore, he considered that intending not to adhere to legal processes that other industries are complying with at any country would be “immense self-centeredness”.
Failure to comply with regulations could even “hurt cryptocurrencies”, according to the founder of Buda, a company that has a presence not only in Chile but also in Argentina, Colombia, and Peru.
The businessman argued that there are certain regulations that they cannot avoid. He believes that not adapting to regulations would carry several risks. Concerning the company, the government could take away their licenses and stop their operations, as well as put those responsible for the organization at risk of going to prison.
Regulated Companies are Elective because Bitcoin Allows Choosing
Torrealba explained that there are beneficial cases of regulation since they allow fighting criminal acts such as money laundering and scams, among others. In this sense, he defended that the requests for information about customers that Buda has faced have been of that style.
However, he said that he does not know if he would change his mind in the hypothetical case that a government requires data for other uses. The representative of Buda stated that he prefers to comply with the current social contract, understanding that the existing system is better than “not having any system.”
Finally, Torrealba mentioned the discussion that exists between exchanges with know-your-customer (KYC) policies and those that do not implement these mechanisms. He considers that “the wonderful thing about cryptocurrencies” is that a person is free to choose between being or not being a “customer of a money exchange”.
As it is decentralized and free to use, Bitcoin does not depend on local regulations or permits so that people can trade, exchange, pay, or charge with that cryptocurrency. An example of this is its ban in China, the result of which has been far from avoiding its use.
Adoption, Cryptocurrencies, and Pandemic in Latin America
Regarding the current situation in the region, Torrealba said that the pandemic context has aroused a greater interest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In his own words, operations have “exploded” in mints during the COVID-19 quarantine.
Although he did not provide new data on this increase in operations, the exchanges in the region had already reported a significant increase in their trading activity in the first months of the pandemic.
By Alexander Salazar
