The initiative intends to fill the regulatory void that has persisted in the country so far.
Legislator Toro ensures that the proposal does not antagonize the regulatory sandbox.
Congressman Mauricio Toro revealed on August 3rd that his proposal for a Law to regulate the cryptocurrency environment such as bitcoin got back to the Colombian Congress. For two years the initiative pushed the need to bring a legal framework to an industry with massive adoption in the country.
Toro wrote on their Twitter account that they would create a very solid regulation to trade crypto assets and close the doors to black markets. This regulation also brings alternatives to the banking system and guarantees security in transactions.
Last year the proposal was waiting for a concept to arrive from the Financial Superintendence of Colombia (SFC), which delayed the start of the four debates to approve such a law.
At that time, the SFC’s intervention raised many chances of altering the version of the project, as the regulatory authority clarified that it did not recognize cryptocurrency service operators. However, the landscape started to show signs of change in mid-2020 when the country opened applications to test bitcoin in a regulatory sandbox.
The bill that emerged from discussions with organizations, and private entities is returning to Congress with more solid arguments to pave its way to become a law.
For this new legislative cycle, modifications were the subject of studies respecting those that appeared in the proposal. There is a recognition of the efforts of the regulatory sandbox with which it does not contradict itself.
The Goals behind this Bill
The bill presented by Mauricio Toro shows crypto assets as a new method to complete exchange for goods and services that cannot be seen as legal tender, nor currencies, nor titles representative of legal tender.
The proposal possesses 14 articles, including preventive measures against money laundering. In this sense, cryptocurrency service providers that operate in the national territory must comply with a series of requirements. These articles add registration procedures in the Single Registry of Crypto Active Exchange Platforms, which will meet its creation if the law receives approval.
Likewise, the initiative adheres to restrictions on exchanges to prevent scams. They will not offer or pay interest or any other monetary benefit for the balance they could gather over time. Nor will they be able to develop multi-level marketing activities.
A Regulation for Bitcoin in Colombia
One of Toro’s concerns is the slowness with which the Government of Colombia has managed the regulation of the cryptocurrency sector. Toro points out that the initiatives move slowly due to the Presidency and its work on the proposal.
The leader of the Innovation Group of the Financial Superintendency, Laura Clavijo, has already clarified that the regulatory sandbox focuses its efforts on entities being under supervision by the SFC.
Although the regulatory sandbox is trying to accommodate those entities it does not supervise until now, such as the exchanges, the regulatory framework will also set up an update to include cryptocurrencies.
By: Jenson Nuñez
