Gustav Petro, who has just won the 2022 Colombian presidential election, has previously made statements in favor of cryptocurrencies.
Petro will replace Iván Duque Márquez as president of Colombia on August 7 for four years after winning the second round of elections on June 19. the president elect came to social media in December 2017, shortly after a major bull run, to talk about the “strength” of Bitcoin (BTC). Petro hinted at the time that cryptocurrencies like BTC could take power away from the government and traditional banks and give it back to the people.
Bitcoin removes the power of emission from the states and the seigniorage of the currency from the banks. It is a community currency that is based on the trust of those who carry out transactions with it, since it is based on the blockchain, trust is measured and grows, hence its strength https://t.co/g8cO9WfP0L
– Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) December 26, 2017
His running mate, Francia Márquez, who will become the vice president of Colombia, has been largely silent on public statements related to cryptocurrencies. Some of the comments of the president-elect in 2021 included the suggestion to use the resources of the western coast of the country to mine cryptocurrencies, in response to the idea of the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, of build volcano powered cryptocurrency miners.
“Virtual currency is pure information and, therefore, energy”, Petro said at the time.
With the Petro inauguration in August, the politician who has been labeled a “leftist” by many will join other world leaders who have enacted policies or spoken out in favor of cryptocurrency adoption. Bitcoin has been accepted as legal tender in El Salvador since September 2021. In April, the Panamanian legislature approved a bill that would have created a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies, but President Laurentino Cortizo partially vetoed the measure in June. , citing concerns about Anti-Money Laundering, or AML, laws.
With approximately 52 million people living in Colombia, the South American nation is one of the most active for cryptocurrency trading in the region, according to data compiled by Usefultulips. In February, Bitso, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in Latin America, launched in Colombia as part of an effort to promote adoption and financial inclusion.
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