• Press Releases
    • Submit a press release
    • Read All
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
Sensei Inu Logo Sensei Inu Logo
Bitcoinist.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • Gambling
      • Bitcoin Casinos
      • Real Money Slots
      • Online Casino Real Money
      • Casino utan svensk licens
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • Price
    • Bitcoin Price
    • Ethereum Price
    • Litecoin Price
    • Binance Coin Price
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
    • Bitcoin Casinos – Where, What and How to Play
  • Events
  • Play Games
  • Play Casino Games
  • Play Finance
  • Best crypto casino
Breaking News: BREAKING: Three Arrows Capital Co-Founder Receives 4-Month Jail Sentence In Singapore
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • Gambling
      • Bitcoin Casinos
      • Real Money Slots
      • Online Casino Real Money
      • Casino utan svensk licens
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • Price
    • Bitcoin Price
    • Ethereum Price
    • Litecoin Price
    • Binance Coin Price
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
    • Bitcoin Casinos – Where, What and How to Play
  • Events
  • Play Games
  • Play Casino Games
  • Play Finance
  • Best crypto casino
Bitcoinist.com
No Result
View All Result
Breaking News: BREAKING: Three Arrows Capital Co-Founder Receives 4-Month Jail Sentence In Singapore
Colombia

Colombia Clarifies Stance: Bitcoin is Not Illegal

Matthew Neuteboom by Matthew Neuteboom
6 years ago
in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Businesses, Bitcoin Regulation, News, News teaser
0

The country of Colombia recently clarified its stance on Bitcoin, following previous reports from 2016 that it had been declared illegal there. 


Bitcoin Was Never Banned in Colombia

Colombia caught the attention of the cryptocurrency community in late 2016 when reports began appearing that the country had outlawed digital currency. The alarm was raised by an article (text in Spanish) written by Julián Villabona Galarza for the PanAm Post, which then spread on social media and was picked up by other outlets.

In the article, PanAm claimed that Bitcoin had been banned in Colombia following an announcement by Francisco Reyes Villamizar, head of the Superintendencia de Sociedades, an agency attached to the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.

According to PanAm, Villamizar said that the Colombian peso was the country’s only legal currency, and that the only entity that can issue money in Colombia is the Banco de la República, the country’s central issuer of money.

Neither A Currency Nor A Security

Jorge Castaño Gutiérrez, Head of the Financial Superintendency of Colombia, finally clarified the country’s stance on digital currency in a circular released last week.

The good news: cryptocurrencies are not banned in Colombia.
The bad news: They won’t be getting legal recognition there any time soon.

Gutiérrez restated that Colombia does not recognize cryptocurrency as a legal form of monetary exchange. He also reasserted that Colombia’s only monetary unit, and unit of account, is the peso issued by Banco de la República.

bitcoin value

He also added that because cryptocurrencies have no value under the country’s capital market laws, Colombia does not recognize them as a security either. Therefore, Colombian businesses are not authorized to guard, invest, broker or manage operations related to them.

However, this does not mean that they’re illegal in Colombia. Instead, Gutiérrez advised citizens that:

it is up to each person to understand and assume the risks inherent in virtual currencies if they choose to deal with them, since they are not protected by any type of private or state guarantee.

Pure, Uncut Colombian Ponzi Schemes

Given the country’s notorious history in the narcotics trade, Colombia’s suspicion over a currency once firmly associated with the darkweb may seem fairly unsurprising. However, it was actually a series of Colombian Bitcoin-based Ponzi schemes that prompted the government to warn the public and prohibit banks from trading with it earlier this year.

These so-called Colombian “investment clubs,” which masquerade as cryptocurrency investment firms, use Bitcoin to raise funds from investors with the promise of doubling their money within two months. Scammers are able take advantage of Bitcoin. Its pseudonymous nature can help avoid detection, dodge taxes and cheat investors out of their money.

The cryptocurrency community itself is no stranger to such scams. The infamous OneCoin scam is just one example — though it’s technically not even a cryptocurrency — of the many fraudulent coins shilled by online con artists.

OneCoin dubbed ponzi scheme

But even though actual blockchain-based cryptocurrencies may be secure and transparent, transactions cannot be reversed by a central entity. Thus, users should be skeptical of online services guaranteeing profits and do all of their homework before sending their coins.

Besides pyramid schemes, Colombian officials are also wary of criminals using cryptocurrencies to launder money and fund terrorist activities. They have urged businesses which use cryptocurrencies to take proper measures to prevent any illegal activity.

No Taxation Without Regulation?

Without a legal framework to define cryptocurrencies, Colombia has yet to address its policies on its plans, if any, for taxation. Nevertheless, PanAm Post recently published another article declaring that Colombia wants to start taxing Bitcoin despite declaring it illegal:

Apparently, Colombia wants to… [force] the creators of cryptocurrency to pay taxes to without any regulation.

However, beyond the article’s misconceptions about Bitcoin’s legal status in Colombia, it is also unclear on what plans have officially been announced. The article does not mention any sources beyond a similarly-worded piece (text in Spanish) published in the Peruvian newspaper La República. Instead, it quotes attorney Juan Sebastián Peredo, who said:

We should think that people will have to report them as part of their assets in their income tax return. In this way, and to the extent that Bitcoin is part of people’s assets, they will have to follow the corresponding tax rules.

This answer appears speculative, however, as Peredo is also quoted saying that “tax issues are yet to be decided.”

Jhonathan Alexander Higuera, an academic from Peru’s Universidad Nacional, is also quoted saying that “currently, in Colombia, people are not required to report their investments or transactions in Bitcoins or any other cryptocurrency.”

As such, it is only safe to say that Colombia has left digital currency regulation wide open, along with any policies that may come with it.

Does your country recognize Bitcoins as a security, commodity, or even a legal currency? Have you ran into legal problems buying digital currencies in your country? Let us know below! 


Images courtesy of Shutterstock 

ShareTweetShareShare

Sign Up for Our Newsletter!

For updates and exclusive offers enter your email.

I consent to my submitted data being collected and stored.

Matthew Neuteboom

Matthew Neuteboom

Related Posts

Bitcoin price $30,000

Bitcoin Price Sets Sights On $30,000 As Holder Metric Hits New All-Time High

12 hours ago
Bitcoin

Bitcoin Long-Term Metrics Point To A Different Scenario Than 2019 Fakeout: Top Analyst

14 hours ago
Bitcoin

Bitcoin Hash Rate: Public Miners Account For Just 28% – Is Decentralization In Jeopardy?

17 hours ago
Bitcoin

Bitcoin Recent Hiccup: Understanding The Invalid Block 

2 days ago
BitBoy

Crypto Influencer ‘BitBoy’ Arrested Live On YouTube – Here’s What Happened

4 days ago
Bitcoin

Could Bitcoin Be On The Verge Of New ATH Rally? Analyst Identifies These Conditions

4 days ago
Please login to join discussion

Premium Partners

Premium Casino Partners

Play Finance

Top Casinos

Trust Dice
Trust Dice
Punt Casino
Punt Casino
mBit
mBit

Press Releases

  • Prepare for the Next Bull Market: The 5 Best Cryptos to Buy...

    4 hours ago
  • Meta Force and Lado Okhotnikov Presented the Results of...

    16 hours ago
  • Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) Ascending – Is it a...

    20 hours ago
  • Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) Facing Key Levels –...

    20 hours ago
  • While Stellar And Avalanche Falter, Bitcoin Spark Heading...

    23 hours ago

Bitcoin news portal providing breaking news, guides, price analysis about decentralized digital money & blockchain technology.

Bitcoin

  • News
  • Price
  • Businesses
  • Acceptance
  • Technology
  • Investment
  • Regulation
  • Reviews

Altcoins

  • News
  • Price
  • Ethereum
  • Ripple
  • Litecoin
  • EOS
  • NAGA

Categories

  • Blockchain
  • Security
  • FinTech
  • Technology
  • Trending
  • Breaking News
  • Press Releases
  • How to

Pages

  • Contact us
  • Editorial Policy
  • Advertise
© 2023 Bitcoinist.com. All Rights Reserved.
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • Gambling
      • Bitcoin Casinos
      • Real Money Slots
      • Online Casino Real Money
      • Casino utan svensk licens
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • Price
    • Bitcoin Price
    • Ethereum Price
    • Litecoin Price
    • Binance Coin Price
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
    • Bitcoin Casinos – Where, What and How to Play
  • Events
  • Play Games
  • Play Casino Games
  • Play Finance
  • Best crypto casino

© 2023 Bitcoinist. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy Center or Cookie Policy.