The government of Colombia has approved on September 22 a pilot program that calls companies to test crypto transactions until December 31 within the regulatory sandbox just passed by the country’s financial watchdog. During a panel titled “Overview of the Regulation of Crypto Assets in Colombia,” Jorge Castaño, head of Colombia’s Financial Superintendence (SFC), revealed that companies wishing to trial crypto transactions should apply by the end of the year, as the pilot will run in 2021. The new regulatory sandbox was approved by the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit on September 14. The SFC elaborated on the sandbox: …

The Colombian police have issued a warning about fraudsters promoting a Bitcoin scam website to social media users. The “announcement” about the launch of a fake Bitcoin-related investment system was purportedly “approved” by Ivan Duque, President of Colombia. According to Colombia Check, quoting a statement by the Cybernetic Police Center, the site promotes a Bitcoin investment opportunity (BTC) that Duque is quoted as saying will offer “relief to the economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.” The post claims that the president signed “the biggest deal of the century” to create a platform named Bitcoin Era, and citizens could start …

The Colombian Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, or MinTIC, released a first-of-its-kind draft of a guide that calls for the public sector to adopt blockchain technology, including crypto payment-related matters. In the Guide for the use and implementation of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT/Blockchain) in the public sector, MinTIC explains the advantages and disadvantages of implementing DLT within projects related to public entities. The Ministry also pointed out the country "is lagging" in adopting blockchain technology, citing the European Union countries, China, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and Canada. The organizations behind the guide — which includes ViveLab …

The World Economic Forum (WEF) hopes to make corrupt activity in the public sector more difficult using blockchain technology. “Corruption is a ‘high-potential’ space for blockchain because you really benefit from decentralization; records are very difficult to remove or censor, for instance,” WEF blockchain project lead Ashley Lannquist told Cointelegraph. Lannquist is one of the authors behind a June report detailing how the WEF, the Office of the Inspector General of Colombia and the Inter-American Development Bank have formed, "a multistakeholder team to investigate, design and trial the use of blockchain technology for corruption-prone government processes." Corruption comes from the …

Peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) trading activity in the United States surged to a new all-time high during the week of June 7, according to data published by UsefulTulips. Over the past seven days, nearly $29 million worth of Bitcoin has changed hands for U.S. dollars on leading P2P marketplaces Localbitcoins and Paxful. The past week saw only North America and Middle Eastern/North African trade increase, with all other regions posting slight declines in seven-day volume. Over $24 million in Bitcoin changed hands on Paxful in the United States alongside $4.6 million traded on Localbitcoins. With roughly $1 million trading on Canada’s …

The Ethereum Foundation says it will not hold blockchain’s largest international conference Devcon VI this year and has moved the event to Bogota, Colombia in 2021 — although a precise date is yet to be announced Colombia is one of the top countries in crypto adoption in the world. Why the delay? In a statement the Foundation said it necessary to postpone the event until next year due to the global restrictions and travel difficulties resulting from the pandemic: “Simply put, Devcon participation should neither be limited to a few willing travelers, nor dependent on hopeful changes to gathering limits.” …

A study unveiled on May 28 by the National Police of Colombia shows that ransomware attacks are a rising trend across the country. The report notes that 30% of all ransomware attacks within Latin American have specifically targeted Colombia. The report, made in alliance with Cisco, McAfee, Microsoft, Absolute, Fortinet, and Claro, states that the threat of ransomware in Colombia is “underestimated.” The quantity of Colombian attacks are followed by Peru (16%), Mexico (14%), Brazil (11%), and Argentina (9%), with SMEs being the preferred targets of cybercriminals. The study shows that 83% of companies in the country lack response protocols …

Amid declining global volume, Localbitcoins.com continues to comprise a hub for Latin American peer-to-peer (P2P) trade — with Argentina, Chile, and Venezuela posting record volume over recent weeks according to Coin.dance. This past week saw Localbitcoins trade between Bitcoin (BTC) and the Mexican peso spike by 71%. As such, the week of April 25 saw roughly $430,000 worth of BTC change hands in Mexico — comprising the fourth-strongest weekly trade activity on record. Latin markets post record volumes during April Argentinian P2P trade rallied to post a new record of more than $710,000 in weekly volume during the week of …

On April 27, the capital of Colombia launched a series of free online courses that cover a broad spectrum of content on new technologies, including blockchain. Sponsored by the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá, the “Bogotá Aprende TIC” program looks forward to strengthening innovation and developing a path to the future of new technologies in the city. The contents cover topics like cloud computing, immersive experience, big data, artificial intelligence, event-driven architecture, internet of things, gig economy and blockchain. Blockchain course contents The blockchain course at its basic level will discuss its meaning, advantages and disadvantages, the areas in which it …

Colombian-based cross-border remittance start-up Valiu has launched Bitcoin-backed synthetic U.S. dollars as a means for Venezuelans to access stable assets and bypass the hyperinflation plaguing their national economy. It’s still in Alpha, but Valiu has partnered with Latin America food delivery app Rappi, which could offer a large user base to help with adoption when it’s rolled out in full later this year. Synthetic USD On April 23, Valiu chief executive Simon Chamorro tweeted that the firm’s ‘cryptodollar’ has launched in alpha: “After 4 months of 80+ hour work weeks, 500k+ lines of clean code written across 4 engineers, shifting …

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is enabling citizens in five further countries to buy cryptocurrency using Visa debit and credit cards with their national fiat currencies. The new service, announced April 10, will extend card support for the Colombian peso, the South Korean won, the Kenyan shilling, the Kazakhstani tenge and Peru’s neuvo sol. At launch, a total of five cryptocurrencies are available for purchase: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), XRP, Binance USD (BUSD) and Tether (USDT). A busy month Binance’s announcement — evidently a positive step for its international user base — follows shortly after the exchange was yesterday …

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has rolled out peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto trading with five new Latin American fiat currencies. Users of the Binance P2P trading platform can now buy and sell cryptocurrency directly with Brazilian real (BRL), Argentine peso (ARS), Colombian peso (COP), Mexican peso (MXN) and Peruvian sol (PEN). Supported cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Tether (USDT), Binance Coin (BNB) and Binance USD (BUSD). The platform has zero transaction fees and uses an escrow service to protect user funds. Latin American region active in crypto trading Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao — also known as CZ — said that Latin America …