Bitfinex Securities has been Licensed to Operate in El Salvador
- Digital asset exchange Bitfinex Securities El Salvador has received a new license from El Salvador’s National Digital Asset Commission.
- The license will allow the exchange to offer a regulatory-compliant platform for companies to issue digital assets like bonds, equities, etc.
- The license was granted to Bitfinex Securities under El Salvador’s new Digital Assets Issuance Law which was approved in January 2023.
- The firm noted that El Salvador is trying to build a “more inclusive and accessible financial environment” for both foreign and domestic companies.
El Salvador has become the definition of pro-Bitcoinism after adopting the world’s largest cryptocurrency as a legal tender in 2021. Interestingly, in January, the government of the country passed another milestone by approving the new Digital Assets Issuance Law. As a part of this new law, Bitfinex Securities El Salvador has received a digital asset service provider license in the region, which will allow it to set up operations in the Central American country.
According to the official announcement from Bitfinex Securities El Salvador, a fully-regulated digital asset exchange, on April 11 the platform became “the world’s first international digital asset platform to receive approval to be licensed as a Digital Asset Service Provider under El Salvador’s ground-breaking new Digital Assets Issuance Law.” The new law was passed by Congress in January with the goal of fostering increased financial innovation and economic growth.
“We are delighted to be the first company to be awarded this licence. It will enable Bitfinex Securities to facilitate the issuance and secondary trading of assets with clearly defined rights and obligations as outlined in the new digital asset regulatory regime”, said Paolo Ardoino, Chief Technology Officer of the Bitfinex group.
The license was granted to Bitfinex Securities by El Salvador’s National Digital Asset Commission. As per Ardoino, the license allows a whole range of entities, from small companies to governments, to “raise capital in a regulated environment, and tap into a class of investors that are extremely comfortable with crypto assets and tokenized securities.”
As reported earlier by Bitnation, El Salvador continues to bet on the bullish future of Bitcoin and has even announced the establishment of a Bitcoin embassy in the Texas state of the United States. The ambassador of the Central American country to the United States, Milena Mayorga, met with Jose “Joe” Esparza, the deputy secretary of the state of Texas, to discuss the details.
The announcement from the newly formed Bitfinex Securities El Salvador noted that El Salvador is trying to build a “more inclusive and accessible financial environment” for both foreign and domestic companies, as well as retail and institutional investors.
The exchange will operate separately from the Bitfinex group’s existing platform, Bitfinex Securities AIFC, operated by Bitfinex Securities Limited.
Jesse Knutson, the Head of Operations at the digital assets exchange, stated that Bitfinex Securities has seen an “increase in demand both from issuers and investors for the products made possible under the new regulations, which include tokenized shares, yield-bearing assets, and other investment products,” while adding:
“Issuers are eager to access the digital asset market, attracted by the speed, cost efficiencies, and ease of issuance compared to traditional assets. The digital asset market is a market which, at over $1 trillion in size, is still in its infancy, but is growing tremendously quickly.”
Late last year, El Salvador also debuted a new agency called the National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC), which is responsible for leading all the projects related to blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the Central American nation.
The ONBTC has been tasked to “design, diagnose, plan, program, coordinate, follow up, measure, analyze and evaluate plans, programs, and projects related to bitcoin for the economic development of the country.”
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
