Banco de Bogotá, the oldest commercial bank of Colombia, has seemingly started to explore crypto-related services.
The bank announced on Monday that it would take part in a pilot project directed by the country’s top financial regulator, Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia. The project will be run within a regulatory sandbox, named la Arenera, which received approval from the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit in September 2020.
Banco de Bogotá wants to explore the business model and potential risks that are associated with the management of crypto assets by letting certain clients acquire and sell crypto from the bank with the national fiat currency, the peso.
The vice president for technology development at Banco de Bogotá, Oscar Bernal Quintero, commented:
“One of our great motivations is to be an active part of the transformation of the country and we consider it valuable to participate in the construction of the possible regulation that would enable the exchange of crypto assets within the Colombian regulatory framework.”
La Arenera was created by the government of Columbia in order to permit crypto test transactions by the local companies. The sandbox was launched this month.
The crypto industry is currently growing in Colombia, with the country having the highest number of Bitcoin ATMs in Latin America.