Gemini, a crypto exchange based in New York, has declared to do an expansion into the region of Latin America via the impending collaboration with Bancolombia (the biggest bank based in Colombia). The respective collaboration will be initiated from the 14th December onwards and will allow the consumers of Bancolombia to do the trading of four crypto-assets as BCH (Bitcoin Cash), LTC (Litecoin), ETH (Ether), and BTC (Bitcoin). A small number of consumers will be permitted to purchase crypto straight from their accounts on Bancolombia bank via the Gemini exchange, with having the provision of crypto-focused infrastructure for the respective exchange as well as the assets’ custody.
It is still ambiguous whether the consumers will be allowed to take out their crypto holdings straight from their respective bank accounts. In an announcement of 6th December regarding the collaboration, it was stated by Gemini that the partnership counts to be a significant move in the direction of the exchange’s systematic growth across the Latin American region. It added that cryptocurrency can play a considerable part in the progress of Latin America because the interest regarding innovative technologies as well as blockchain is now expediting to a great extent.
The respective collaboration will operate being included in a pilot program spanning a year to be executed by the financial regulator of Colombia called the SFC Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia. “la Arenera” (a regulatory sandbox) was accepted in 2020’s September by the Finance and Public Credit Ministry. In January, it was announced by the SFC that nine from fourteen exchanges of cryptocurrency were chosen by it to be included in the project in which Bitso (a Mexican exchange), Binance, and Gemini are included. Following 7th September, when BTC was adopted by El Salvador to be a legal tender, Latin America has witnessed rapid progress in mainstream crypto adoption.
JP Thieriot, the CEO of Uphold (a multicurrency investment venue), stated in October that the Latin American region is expected to take the most advantage out of the crypto sector. Presently, Gemini is functioning across 60 Latin American countries, including Uruguay, Peru, Panama, El Salvador, Chile, Brazil, and Argentina, while Bancolombia is operating in El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, and Colombia. As per an internal report of the recent year, the bank has up to 17.8M consumers.
