Ecuador Central Bank: We cannot ban crypto

The General Manager of the Ecuadoran Central Bank Guillermo Avellán clarified that cryptocurrencies are legal in the country, but claimed that their trading should be regulated.

In a recent X post, Avellán wrote that paying for goods and services with cryptocurrency is not legal in the country. He pointed out that the law requires all transactions in the country to be conducted with United States dollars:

“I recommend reviewing Article 94 of the Monetary and Financial Code, which stipulates that all transactions, monetary and financial operations, and their accounting records must be expressed in United States dollars.”

Still, the law in question does not prohibit cryptocurrencies in the country. Avellán pointed out that the law in question establishes that the State cannot impose any currency other than the United States dollar.

Ecuador’s Central Bank, he explained, can only control “that the sole authorized means of payment in the country is the United States dollar.” This does not give the institution any mandate that would authorize it to prohibit cryptocurrencies:

“At no time has the [Ecuador’s Central Bank] prohibited investment in crypto assets, as it is not within its competencies.”

Avellán said that, in his opinion, cryptocurrencies require some dedicated legislative work in the country. He noted that “Ecuador requires a law that regulates investment in crypto” with the finality of protecting investors and promoting innovation. Another reason he shared is protecting the local adoption of the dollar from the threat of the availability of crypto alternatives outside the legal framework.

As ReadWrite recently reported, Ecuador’s central bank issued a reminder that “crypto assets are not a currency” to its citizens. The statement came only two months after Worldcoin started operating in the country.

Worldcoin is the brainchild of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and has found itself amid multiple controversies. Colombia’s Superintendence of Industry and Commerce recently released a statement accusing Worldcoin’s iris-scanning identity network of infringing privacy regulations.

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