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'''Bitso''' is a [[platform]] to buy, sell and use [[cryptocurrencies]] in [[Mexico]] and [[Argentina]]. Founded in [[2014]] by Ben Peters and Pablo González, it’s the first platform in [[Latin America]] and sixth company worldwide to earn a Distributed Ledger Technology license from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC). <ref>[https://expansion.mx/tecnologia/2019/10/27/sin-dinero-en-efectivo-e-interconectado-asi-sera-el-mundo-en-2069 Sin dinero en efectivo e interconectado, así será el mundo en 2069] en: Expansión. Consultado en 11-12-2019.</ref> The platform has more than 900,000 users.<ref>[https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/sectorfinanciero/El-bitcoin-ya-participa-en-el-negocio-de-las-remesas-Bitso-20190522-0168.html El bitcoin ya participa en el negocio de las remesas: Bitso] en: ''[[El Economista]]''. Consultado el 22-05-2019.</ref> | '''Bitso''' is a [[platform]] to buy, sell and use [[cryptocurrencies]] in [[Mexico]] and [[Argentina]]. Founded in [[2014]] by Ben Peters and Pablo González, it’s the first platform in [[Latin America]] and sixth company worldwide to earn a Distributed Ledger Technology license from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC). <ref>[https://expansion.mx/tecnologia/2019/10/27/sin-dinero-en-efectivo-e-interconectado-asi-sera-el-mundo-en-2069 Sin dinero en efectivo e interconectado, así será el mundo en 2069] en: Expansión. Consultado en 11-12-2019.</ref> The platform has more than 900,000 users.<ref>[https://www.eleconomista.com.mx/sectorfinanciero/El-bitcoin-ya-participa-en-el-negocio-de-las-remesas-Bitso-20190522-0168.html El bitcoin ya participa en el negocio de las remesas: Bitso] en: ''[[El Economista]]''. Consultado el 22-05-2019.</ref> |
Revision as of 17:36, 15 November 2020
Bitso is a platform to buy, sell and use cryptocurrencies in Mexico and Argentina. Founded in 2014 by Ben Peters and Pablo González, it’s the first platform in Latin America and sixth company worldwide to earn a Distributed Ledger Technology license from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC). [1] The platform has more than 900,000 users.[2]
Bitso has two main products: its mobile app, where users can buy, sell and use cryptocurrencies, including a cryptocurrency payment service for merchants; and Bitso Alpha, a cryptocurrency trading platform.
Bitso currently works with ten cryptocurrencies, which can be exchanged in 18 markets. In Mexico, nine of them can be converted directly to Mexican pesos (CRYPTO/MXN) and nine of them to Bitcoin (CRYPTO/BTC).
While in Argentina, it has an Argentine peso market to Bitcoin (BTC/ARS) and eight cryptocurrency markets against Bitcoin.
Their most recent expansion, the direct market between Bitcoin and US dollars (BTC/USD), is now available in both Mexico and Argentina.
The cryptocurrencies that Bitso supports are: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Golem (GNT), True USD (TUSD) , Decentraland (MANA), and DAI (DAI).
Contents
Regulation
Gibraltar Financial Services Commission License
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. It has taken steps to pioneer the legality and regulation of cryptocurrency operations within its jurisdiction.[3]
In July 2019, Bitso announced that its platform was granted the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) license from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC). This regulatory framework refers to the guidelines involved in the cryptocurrency transaction services such as deposits, withdrawals, and trading processes, including the protection or custody of data integrity, effective at Bitso from August 1, 2019.[4]
This license is based on nine core principles as listed in the DLT regulations, where its primary purpose is to build a rigid legislative framework for businesses while protecting customers and ensuring adequate systems to secure the financial and non financial resources, with a highly prescriptive approach.
Mexican Fintech Law
FinTech startups bring a wide range of financial solutions by implementing new technology. The most common way of marketing for these platforms is through websites, apps and social media with the ultimate goal of receiving exposure and increasing their online visibility. [5]
The most relevant services these companies offer are: crowdfunding, digital assets markets, and personal finance management.
Due to the high growth of these companies, the Mexican Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Público) joined forces with other financial authorities in order to develop the Financial Technology Institutions Law (Ley de Instituciones de Tecnología Financiera), better known as the “Fintech Law”.[6]
On March 9, 2018, the Fintech Law was signed and published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, Mexico's federal official daily.[7]
This legislation positioned Mexico as a regional leader in innovation, becoming a financial technology regulation pioneer in Latin America. In 2018 alone, about 100 new fintech companies were created in Mexico.[8]
Isabel Dharanee Vázquez Menchaca, the general director of GMC360 had expressed her view of the Fintech Law in Spanish : Template:Quote
A diverse list of countries are working in the development of their own digital technology legislations such as Netherlands, Abu Dhabi, Canada, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Bitso is in the transition period provided by the Fintech law to convert into an Electronic Payment Fund Institution (Institución de Fondo de Pago Electrónico).
Related Companies
Bitso’s initial plan of action is to make strategic partnerships. Pablo González, Bitso’s co founder, expressed in a popular website specialized in bitcoin and digital currencies called Coindesk: “I think partnerships are a good strategy in this rapidly growing bitcoin economy. (...) Companies have different specialties and purposes, and together we can enhance the user experience and expand bitcoin more efficiently. [9]
Bitpay
In 2015, Bitso announced its partnership with Bitpay, the largest bitcoin payment processor in the world. This leading merchant processor works closely with big companies such as Microsoft, Paypal, Shopify, Namecheap and many others. The alliance aimed to the implementation and adoption of digital currency payments in the Mexican merchants, while increasing the number of use cases. [10]
Ripple
In 2018, Bitso announced its partnership with Ripple, including Ripple's XRP-based xRapid platform [11], focused on building a healthy digital currency exchange ecosystem.
Thomson Reuters Eikon
In April 2018, Thomson Reuters Eikon, a powerful financial analysis platform for historical and real-time data, partnered with Bitso on its markets’ section to enable real-time prices and charts for Bitcoin, Ether, Ripple, Litecoin and [[Bitcoin Cash]. [12]
Blockstream
In September 2018, Bitso communicated the implementation of Blockstream’s Liquid network with the overall goal of providing faster Bitcoin transactions. [13]
RSK
In September 2018, Bitso announced its partnership with RSK, a smart contract platform secured by the Bitcoin network, which facilitates the movement of its native token named SmartBitcoin (RBTC). [14]
Awards
- Daniel Vogel, Bitso’s CEO, was granted along with other young people the Innovators under 35 prize (Premio Innovadores Menores de 35) in November 2016, by the MIT Technology Review magazine in Spanish. [15]
- At the beginning of 2019, Bitso was recognized as one of the 20 most secure crypto exchanges in the world and the safest in Latin America. In this study, conducted by ICORating agency, 135 platforms were evaluated. [16]
- In March 2019, Bitso was recognized as one of the best working places in Mexico. This prize, the Super Working Spaces 2019 ranking (Súper Espacios de Trabajo 2019), was granted by WeWork, Expansión and Top Companies. [17]
- During April 2019, the legal team of Bitso was recognized in the GC Powerlist - Mexico Teams 2019 ranking [18], by The Legal 500, as an innovating and expert team in the digital currency ecosystem and Fintech industry in general. This is in correspondence with the implemented industry-focused practice changes in response to the promulgated Fintech law in 2018.
- In September 2019, Bitso was considered one of the 10 most outstanding emerging companies to work in Mexico in the first ranking of this kind made by LinkedIn in Mexico: LinkedIn Top Startups 2019. On this list were high growth startups that are innovators in their respective industry, change the working preferences for candidates around the world, and often impact the way people live and work. [19]
- In February 2020, the Best Place to Code 2020 promoted by Software Gury was released. The initiative recognized the companies that strive to provide the best possible working conditions for those who perform in the software and information technology areas. Bitso ranked second place.
Use Cases for Cryptocurrency
Online shopping, sending and receiving remittance payments, payment for goods and services and alternative investments are some of the many ways that more and more Mexicans are using cryptocurrencies. [20]
According to the Global Digital Report launched in early 2019, Mexico is the third country in Latin America with the highest number of internet users who already have some relationship with cryptocurrencies, below Brazil and Colombia.
This information shows the exponential growth that has taken place in Mexico. The increasing use of cryptocurrencies and the adoption of new technologies in the lives of everyday citizens, reflected in the rise of Fintech per capita, are just one of the many reasons linked to the cultural change and economic expansion in Mexico.
For example, the goal of the Criptometro MX 2018 was to understand the general knowledge and thoughts of the Mexican population on cryptocurrency technology. This study concluded that 35% of Mexicans who already own cryptocurrencies use them for payments or online shopping, followed by 32% who save them waiting for a rise in their value and 15% who see them as a potential payment method for merchants. [21]
In this context, Bitso has focused on promoting various use cases of cryptocurrencies through forums and presentations. Including the implementation of payments in commercial establishments through Bitso Transfer, a feature of the Bitso application that let’s users send Mexican pesos or cryptos instantly without fees. In order to know the list of establishments in Mexico that already receive payments with crypto or Mexican pesos through Bitso Transfer, Bitso has an updated map.
Cryptocurrency Campaign Donations in Mexico
2017 Puebla Earthquake Relief Donation Campaign
The 7.1 magnitude earthquake with epicenter in the Mexican state of Puebla that struck on September 19, 2017, left considerable damage in the central states of the country. Independent firms have estimated losses between US$4 billion and US$8 billion. This event caused the most catastrophic damage in Mexico City, because it was the city with the greatest number of deaths due to the population density and the structure of the subsoil that amplifies seismic waves motion.
The #BitcoinAidMexico campaign had started after the 2017 Chiapas earthquake, when they had a response from users, donating 124,000 pesos to the Red Cross, one day before the second earthquake. Because of this situation, Bitso decided to extend the donation campaign four more weeks, explaining that they would contribute the equivalent of 50 percent of the donations made seven days after the earthquake, and then continue with three weeks of donations. As of September 24, the campaign had collected 1,223,688 pesos, corresponding to 324 donations in three different digital currencies.[22]
Donadora, Epic Queen and Bitso Donation Campaign
Only one in five women has an IT position worldwide, and only 6% of the leadership roles in the technology sector are held by women, which is why the partnership between Donadora, Epic Queen, and Bitso was formed. The main objective was to promote the participation of women and girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This campaign also positioned Donadora and Bitso as the first companies to promote donations through cryptocurrencies in Latin America. [23]
The campaign was launched on March 8, 2019 during International Women's Day. It was hosted at the Donadora's platform, where videos and images of the impact from these donations could be seen. [24]
See also
Template:AA license. Source: wikipedia
- ↑ Sin dinero en efectivo e interconectado, así será el mundo en 2069 en: Expansión. Consultado en 11-12-2019.
- ↑ El bitcoin ya participa en el negocio de las remesas: Bitso en: El Economista. Consultado el 22-05-2019.
- ↑ Hoon, Iven De. "Gibraltar introduces a legal framework for cryptocurrency businesses". No More Tax. Retrieved 2020-07-10.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Bitso becomes first Latin American fintech with international cryptocurrency license". Contxto. 2019-07-22. Retrieved 2020-07-10.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Riquelme, Rodrigo (4 March 2018). "6 claves para entender la Ley Fintech". El Economista (in español). Periódico. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "International Comparative Legal Guides". International Comparative Legal Guides International Business Reports. Retrieved 2020-07-10.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "The Mexican Fintech Law: What International Entities Need To Know - Technology - Mexico". www.mondaq.com. Retrieved 2020-07-10.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "LatAm turns to Mexico's year-old fintech law as a model for regulation". www.spglobal.com. Retrieved 2020-07-10.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "El bitcoin crece en México con objetivo de acelerar la inclusión financiera". Agencia EFE (in español). Agencia EFE. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Blog, Bitso (19 October 2015). "BitPay y Bitso anuncian alianza". Bitso (in español). Blog Bitso. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Alexandre, Ana (2 October 2018). "La solución de pagos xRapid de Ripple ya está disponible comercialmente". Coin Telegraph en Español. Coin Telegraph en Español. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Morales, Carlos (3 May 2018). "Thomson Reuters enlista a Bitso en su servicio de información en tiempo real". Forbes México (in español). Forbes México. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Rivero, Jackeline (28 December 2018). "Bitso implementa un nodo de Liquid, la cadena lateral de Bitcoin". Criptonoticias (in español). Criptonoticias. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Leal, Andrea (8 December 2018). "Bitso incorpora el intercambio de tokens de RSK en su plataforma". Criptonoticias (in español). Criptonoticias. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Innovators Under 35". MIT Technology Review. 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Bitso, el Exchange más seguro en América Latina". Marketing Directo (in español). Marketing Directo. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Martínez, Andrés (13 May 2019). "Bitso, uno de los mejores lugares para trabajar en México". Blog Bitso (in español). Blog Bitso. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "GC POWERLIST: MEXICO TEAMS 2019". The Legal 500. The Legal 500. 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "LinkedIn Top Startups 2019". LinkedIn (in español). LinkedIn. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Hernández, Antonio (30 June 2019). "Los Mexicanos se apropian de las Criptomonedas". El Universal (in español). El Universal. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Pérez, Sandra (7 August 2018). "Lanzan primer estudio de criptomonedas en México: Criptómetro MX18". Fortune en Español (in español). Fortune en Español. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Pérez, Sandra (15 May 2018). "Así es como un exchange de Bitcoin en México ayudó a los afectados del sismo del 19S". Fortune en Español (in español). Fortune en Español. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "LA 1ER CAMPAÑA DE CROWDFUNDING EN RECIBIR BITCOINS EN MÉXICO". Epic Queen México (in español). Epic Queen México. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "Bitso, Donadora y Epic Queen se unen para involucrar a más niñas y mujeres en el sector tecnológico". Entrepreneur en Español (in español). Entrepreneur en Español. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2019.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
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