Colombia closes sandbox pilot with no clear direction for bitcoin

The Colombian Financial Superintendence (SFC or Superfinanciera) reported on the closure of the regulatory sandbox that had been in place since 2021.

Through a publication on X, the financial institution announced the fact, also pointing out some of the test results. allowed to evaluate the buying and selling activities of bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies in a group of selected exchanges that worked together with Colombian banks.

As reported by CriptoNoticias, the pilot plan -also known as LaArenera SFC- that authorized the launch of seven alliances between local banks and bitcoin exchanges.

At that time, the partnerships were established as follows: Bancolombia with Gemini, Davivienda and Powwi with Binance, Banco de Bogotá with Bitso and Buda, Coltefinanciera with Obsidiam, Coink with Banexcoin, and Movii with Panda and Bitpoint.

According to information from the Superintendency of Finance, the exercise – which formally ended on June 13 – allowed “advances in the understanding of the risks and opportunities associated with this type of operations.” in its interaction with financial system services.”

No incidents were observed that would jeopardize the continuity of the exchange pilot, nor did any risks materialize that would affect financial consumers or the stability of participating financial institutions.

Financial Superintendence of Colombia.

Pending regulation, the SFC again cites “risks”

In its statement, the SFC says it will use the information obtained from the controlled sandbox experience to the definition of a regulatory framework for the sector.

The report states that the data collected provided essential information “on the risks faced by both consumers and supervised entities.”

This statement is made in a context where the Colombian ecosystem is still waiting for the presentation of a bill by the organization, which has been a topic of debate since last year.

This is a proposal that had been outlined by the Superfinanciera, together with other entities such as the Ministry of Finance and the Banco República, which has been the subject of conversations between the government and some members of the Colombian ecosystem, such As Mauricio Tovar explained to this media:

There are talks about a set of clear rules that the Financial Superintendence could put in place soon and discussions are also continuing on the bill, but the truth is that little progress has been made lately.

Mauricio Tovar, researcher and blockchain specialist.

On this subject, the Superintendency of Finance’s statement notes that the results of the pilot “constitute a valuable input for defining a possible regulatory initiative.” However, warns again, both the supervised entities and the general publicon “the risks” to which they are exposed when they acquire and trade with these instruments.

Remember then that cryptoassets They are not regulated or backed by a central bankand therefore do not constitute a legal tender means of payment.

«Transactional platforms and marketers of cryptoassets are not regulated by Colombian law nor are they subject to the control, surveillance or inspection of this Superintendency.»

It is worth adding that the tests in the Arenera They were governed by the standards established by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)This means that a series of standards were applied to minimise the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.

These are the same measures that are required of bitcoin exchanges in other countries, forcing them to fill out information records of users and report suspicious transactions.