The Bitso launch in Colombia happened during a volatile period in the crypto market. Besides the fact that there are still so many people who are unfamiliar with digital assets, the market witnessed one of its biggest crashes in recent memory leading to losses for investors.
Bitso, a leading crypto platform in Mexico, is now officially in Colombia, giving its customers an opportunity to load money directly from the app into their wallets via the PSE method. Bitso is looking to leverage on the Colombian’s thirst for crypto, the country has one of the largest trading volumes in the region – up to $70 billion monthly, according to data from Chainalysis.
Bitso joins the likes of Buda.com, Binance and Ripio who already have a presence in Colombia. Per recent data on Chainalysis, Colombia ranks 11th in global crypto adoption, recording approximately $70 billion in cryptocurrency trades per month.
CNA citing CEO Daniel Vogel in Bogotá during the event launch wrote that Bitso exchange has targeted the Colombian market for quite some time having spotted the country’s market potential.
The move comes only three months after Bitso revealed its intention to expand into Colombia.
Bitso users can open the wallet, load Colombian Pesos, and use the app to buy crypto assets such as BTC, ETH, APE, AAVE, and SOL, together with some USD-pegged stablecoins such as DAI, Tether, and TrueUSD.
A Bold Move During Volatile Times
The Bitso launch in Colombia happened during a volatile period in the crypto market. Besides the fact that there are still so many people who are unfamiliar with digital assets, the market witnessed one of its biggest crashes in recent memory leading to losses for investors.
Kitco reports numerous questions coming from people across Latin America.
Commenting about the volatility of the market, Vogel said that every regulator they have met asked about Terra and Luna, with the intention of finding out what the recent market events have meant. Reiterating about regulators, Vogel also confirmed Bitso’s continued involvement in the regulated sandbox until the end of 2022, with expectations of more regulator guidance over the coming months.
Giving his opinion about current events, the Bitso official termed it a “crypto winter” and added that this is the best time to build as the atmosphere promotes focus on the fundamentals while attracting clients for the right reasons.
Vogel also opined that while it is easier to go live amidst a hot market when demand is high, a cold market provides a better climate for a focused project.
Columbia’s Readiness for Crypto
While the South American country is ripe for digital asset adoption, the clarity of crypto use cases remains low, especially in areas such as Venezuela and Argentina where there is uncontrollable inflation, which makes it hard to save in their local currencies.
According to Vogel, the on-coming presidential election is one of the factors arousing Colombian’s interest in cryptocurrencies, because of the uncertainties of the political situation and how it may affect the price movement of the Colombian Peso.
Although registered in Gibraltar, Bitso also has operations across Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, recording over 4 million users across these countries. Noteworthy, Bitso has also laid the grand work for a pioneer cash-in and cash-out operations with Banco de Bogotá.
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