Central Bank of Cuba authorizes the legal use of cryptocurrencies

The Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) through resolution 215/2021 enabled the use of certain virtual assets in commercial transactions throughout the territory of the Caribbean island. The legal instrument, signed by the president of the financial entity Marta Sabina Wilson González, recognizes the payments of Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies entered into force on September 15, after being published in the Official Gazette on August 26 and has as purpose “to enable the use of certain virtual assets in commercial transactions.“

The new regulatory framework also establishes “the granting of a license to digital asset service providers that operate throughout the national territory” and highlights that it is “the only entity that authorizes financial institutions and other legal entities so that they can use crypto assets between them.”

The norm stresses that state institutions, political, social or other organizations may not use digital assets without prior authorization from the regulatory body. In addition, the country undertakes to comply with “the international standards regarding the prevention and detection of money laundering and terrorist financing established by the International Financial Action Group (FATF).

Taking risks

The regulation shows some ambiguities since it does not establish what type of quote will be taken into account to carry out transactions, but it is explicit in alerting potential users to some dangers, stating that “they represent risks to monetary policy and financial stability, due to due to their high volatility (…) They are assets without the backing of monetary authorities and excessive anonymity of registered users.”

The president of the Caribbean island, Miguel Díaz Canel, indicated that the convenience of the use of cryptoactives has been evaluated and they want to prevent citizens from being “scammed by a chain of events that are happening worldwide.”

Benefits for the population

The main source of income for the Cuban population is the remittances sent by thousands of exiled people to their families so that they can purchase the products of the basic basket and satisfy the priority needs. And it is precisely in this process that bitcoin can be very useful for citizenship, since it offers “a fast and cheap way to send cross-border transfers without having to resort to traditional high-cost services.“

The American economist Steve Hanke made a publication recently where he exposes that the Caribbean country is among those that can obtain great benefits with the acceptance of Bitcoin because it registers “the highest average commission payment for sending remittances, which is about 10.53 %.“

M. Rodríguez

Source: criptonoticias.com