Cuba Officially Recognizes and Regulates Cryptocurrencies

NEW DELHI: Cuba’s Central Bank has officially recognised cryptocurrencies that are operating within their politico-economic jurisdiction. The Cuba Standard report on the subject quoted resolution number 215 published in the country’s Gaceta oficial (official Gazette).
Resolution 215 has set norms on how the central bank will regulate cyber currencies. Cuban crypto investors are now happy, as regulation of cryptocurrency also means that they are now officially accepted as virtual assets.
The resolution also states that Banco Central de Cuba (BCC) -- Cuba’s central bank -- will license commercial providers in due course.
Cuba Standard quotes Eduardo Sanchez, a Blockchain expert, as saying: “It will be important for the government to regulate and maintain sovereignty over the financial system. The Cuban context shares the same risk with any other crypto markets in the world — the volatility, security, capital flight, financing for criminal activities.”
This announcement by BCC has opened another route which was closed for Cuba after the US government had shut down most legal channels for US-Cuba remittances in late 2019.
Cuba has jumped on to the crypto bandwagon only after Havana University and BCC had set up a study group in 2019 that examined if the country could introduce its own cryptocurrency, just like Venezuela.
In a disclaimer, the resolution clarifies that “the individual must assume the risks and responsibilities of operating with virtual assets and service providers that function at the margins of the banking and financial system, even if virtual-asset transactions between said persons are not prohibited.”
Cuban state banks will have to take prior approval from the BCC for using cryptocurrencies. Many young Cubans have already started dealing with cryptocurrencies following a boom in mobile data usage and improvements in the telecom infrastructure in the country. They are known to have used cryptocurrencies even to get paid through jobs.