Honduras securities regulator bans crypto investment & transactions for Banks
Honduras’ National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBS) ordered institutions not to interact with cryptocurrencies for their financial services because these unregulated crypto assets can be used for illegal activities.
Honduras is a Central American country where crypto is fully unregulated just like the majority of the Central American countries. Crypto is only regulated in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. In 2018, the Central of Honduras published a notice to all the individuals & companies dealing in cryptocurrencies and stated that Cryptocurrencies are unregulated & not backed by the central bank.
On 15 Feb 2024, An order by the CNBS was released to prohibit all the banks dealing in cryptocurrencies e.g. investment transactions as a part of payment services.
Statement read:
“Prohibit institutions supervised by the National Banking and Securities Commission from maintaining, investing, intermediating or operating with cryptocurrencies, crypto assets, virtual currencies, tokens or any other similar virtual asset.”
The Central Bank stated that Cryptocurrencies are fully unregulated, so these can be misused by bad actors in illegal activities or fraud.
Notably, the CNBS is part of the Honduran presidential administration and this order was approved unanimously and took effect immediately.
This central bank order is not a crypto ban order. It will be only applicable to the local banks dealing with cryptocurrencies.
Earlier in March 2022, some media reported that Honduras planned to adopt Bitcoin as a legal currency just like El Salvador. Following such reports, the Honduras central bank responded officially & stated that they have no such plans but are working on the issuance of central bank digital currency (CBDC).
In the Summer of 2022, Bitcoin Valley was opened in the country to attract tourists, where people can pay Bitcoin (BTC) for goods & services.
In within few weeks, Bitcoin valley grabbed huge attention among the big players as well as tourists.
Read also: Tether (USDT) is going to face regulatory challenges in the US, a bad impact on offshore usage?
