Biggest Bank In Colombia Soon To Pilot Crypto Trading, Partners With Gemini
Bancolombia will soon enter a one year pilot to offer some of its customers access to buy crypto from their bank accounts through a partnership with Gemini exchange.
Colombian will soon be able to buy cryptocurrencies directly from their bank accounts. Colombia’s new regulatory sandbox, is slowly beginning to bear fruit as more banking institutions begin to offer cryptocurrency services to their clients through arrangements with leading crypto firms.
The partnership is part of a government-sponsored pilot program. It will launch on December 14, giving an initial cohort of Bancolombia customers a seamless on and off-ramp to trade BTC through the exchange.
Cynthia del Pozo García, Gemini’s principal of strategy and corporate development, said:
“The partnership also serves as an important step toward the strategic expansion of Gemini’s presence in Latin America.
We look forward to working closely with the Colombian crypto ecosystem and to supporting crypto products that empower Colombians to take control of their financial lives.”
The Colombia government launched a one-year pilot program through the country’s financial regulator, Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (SFC), to bring bitcoin and cryptocurrency services to citizens in a more straightforward fashion.
Del Pozo García added:
“Crypto is borderless by nature, and we are committed to expanding crypto access to individuals across the globe.”
Bancolombia is part of the Bancolombia Group, a holding company that also owns Banistmo, the largest bank in Panama and Central America; BAM, from Guatemala; and Banco Agricola, which serves customers in El Salvador. The group had 17.8 million customers as of December 31, 2020, according to its numbers report.
The joint Bancolombia and Gemini project would be the second of nine to move forward, and the first to involve a top cryptocurrency exchange. Though Binance, Bitso and other exchanges have their names attached to other projects, no progress has yet been made beyond the initial design phase.
Meanwhile, the MOVii and Bitpoint initiative has already surpassed 2,000 active users and reported close to $500 million in funds moved through cryptocurrencies since November. The CEO of MOVii, Hernando Rubio, previously said that the startup is working on an upcoming integration with the Latin American cryptocurrency exchange Ripio to increase its customer base as well as the services offered.
