[ad_1]
Cuba is seeing an influx of cryptocurrency assets amid an apparent lack of related regulation in the country, according to local cryptocurrency company executives.
In early November, Cuba experienced a sharp rise in Google queries related to Bitcoin (BTC), indicating an increase in crypto activity in the country. The founders of major local cryptocurrency exchanges Qbita and Bitremesas told Cointelegraph that their platforms have seen an increase in activity in recent months.
Erich Garcia, the creator of Bitremesas, told Cointelegraph that the platform has been growing steadily this year, seeing a significant influx of user activity. “By now, usage of the service is increasing by 200 percent every month,” Garcia said.
“The use and volume of Bitcoin in Cuba are exploding right now,” said Mario Mazzola, founder of Qbita Exchange. According to the executive, Qbita’s trading volumes in October were equal to the total volumes of September, August and July combined.
However, the regulatory status of cryptocurrency-related businesses is not yet defined in Cuba, both executives noted. Amid this regulatory uncertainty, a number of entrepreneurs are moving towards cryptocurrencies, Garcia said:
“[Right] now, the cryptocurrency in Cuba is not regulated, the government so far does not consider these coins as real money. Hence, many entrepreneurs are migrating their trade to this more powerful global currency. “
Mazzola di Qbita said cryptocurrency in Cuba is “totally deregulated”, while at the same time the local government has approved cryptocurrency as a means of circumventing sanctions. He said:
“Cryptocurrencies are totally deregulated in Cuba. They are neither legal nor illegal. […] Indeed, on several occasions, Cuban government representatives have hinted on TV that the authorities look favorably on cryptography, as they understand that cryptography could be a powerful weapon against the US embargo. “
As there is still no concrete legal status for cryptocurrencies in Cuba, the functioning of local cryptocurrency exchanges could raise regulatory issues, but the founder of Qbita is confident that local cryptocurrency assets are not in danger because there is not even a law that explicitly prohibits its operation.
“Such P2P transactions are perfectly legal because there is no law in Cuba that prohibits people from buying, holding, using and selling Bitcoin to another person,” Mazzola said.
According to Mazzola, local monetary reforms could be one of the main reasons behind the growing interest in cryptocurrencies in Cuba. The Cuban government plans to eliminate its dual-currency economic model by removing the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC) and maintaining the Cuban peso (CUP). Mazzola said:
“The increase in BTC in Cuba is due to the fact that the government has announced recent major monetary reforms, which include monetary unification (CUC disappears, CUP remains) and the devaluation of CUP against the US dollar. As a result, people are using Bitcoin to avoid inflation and the negative impact of devaluation on their savings. “
As previously reported, the growing interest in cryptocurrencies in Cuba is also in part a response to the lack of digital financial services in the country. Major companies like PayPal and Stripe do not provide services for Cuban citizens due to US Bureau of Foreign Assets Control or OFAC sanctions.
The limits on Cuba’s access to financial services extend not only to traditional payment companies, but also to global crypto companies like Paxful and LocalBitcoins. Jukka Blomberg, chief marketing officer of LocalBitcoins based in Finland, said:
“Cuba is on the OFAC sanctions list and we have contractual obligations with some of our partners, which means we cannot operate in Cuba. I’m not sure that things will change in the future, however, unfortunately this is the situation at the moment.” .
