Gemini has a partnership with Colombia’s largest bank to facilitate cryptocurrency trading
Customers of Bancolombia will be able to trade a variety of major cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, and LTC, as a result of the agreement.
Gemini, a New York-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced plans to expand into Latin America through a collaboration with Colombia’s biggest bank, Bancolombia.
The cooperation will begin on Dec. 14 and will allow Bancolombia-based clients to trade four crypto assets: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) (BCH).
A select group of consumers will be able to purchase cryptocurrency directly from their Bancolombia bank accounts through the Gemini exchange, which will offer crypto-specific infrastructure for asset exchange and custody. It is unknown if customers will be able to immediately remove their crypto assets from their accounts.
Gemini noted in a Dec. 6 release about the cooperation that it “marks an essential step toward Gemini’s strategic growth in Latin America.”
“We think that crypto may play a significant role in Latin America’s growth, given the region’s growing interest in blockchain and creative technology.”
The collaboration will take place as part of a year-long pilot initiative being conducted by Colombia’s financial regulator, the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (SFC). The regulatory sandbox, dubbed “la Arenera,” was authorised in September 2020 by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.
The SFC said in January that it had selected nine of fourteen cryptocurrency exchanges that submitted for the initiative, including Gemini, Binance, and the Mexican exchange Bitso.
Since El Salvador approved Bitcoin as legal cash on September 7, Latin America has made significant progress toward widespread cryptocurrency adoption. JP Thieriot, CEO of multicurrency investing platform Uphold, told Cointelegraph in October that Latin America stands to “get the most from cryptocurrency.”
Gemini is presently present in over 60 countries in Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay.
Bancolombia is a Colombian bank with operations in Panama, Guatemala, and El Salvador. It boasts 17.8 million subscribers, according to an internal assessment from last year.
Banco de Bogotá, Colombia’s oldest bank, also stated in March that it will be experimenting crypto services as part of la Arenera. Cointelegraph stated a year ago in March 2020 that Latin America had the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency user base.
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