Key Takeaways:
- Relocation Milestone: Bitfinex Derivatives moves from Seychelles to El Salvador after securing a Digital Asset Service Providers (DASP) license, highlighting the country’s crypto-friendly regulatory framework.
- El Salvador’s Crypto Ambitions: The country is advancing as a crypto hub in Latin America, enabling tokenized asset offerings under its Digital Assets Securities Law.
- Mixed Results: Despite innovative offerings like tokenized U.S. Treasury bills, challenges remain, such as a failed fundraising project for a Hilton hotel tokenization effort.
Bitfinex Derivatives, the derivatives division of cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, has relocated to El Salvador after obtaining a Digital Asset Service Providers (DASP) license.
The move, announced on January 7, marks a significant shift from Seychelles to El Salvador, a nation increasingly recognized as a global financial hub for cryptocurrency.
🌎 With this licence, we’re proud to relocate Bitfinex Derivatives to El Salvador – a nation leading the charge in building a robust digital economy.
— Bitfinex (@bitfinex) January 7, 2025
This move strengthens our mission to deliver innovative trading solutions, especially to underserved regions in Latin America. ✅
Paolo Ardoino, Bitfinex’s CTO, highlighted the alignment of this relocation with El Salvador’s progressive crypto regulations and Bitfinex’s mission to expand regional financial services.
El Salvador has been proactive in enacting digital asset laws to position itself as a Latin American crypto hub.
Following the passage of the Digital Assets Securities Law in January 2023, Bitfinex Securities acquired a DASP license and has since utilized the country’s regulatory framework for innovative projects, including a tokenized offering of U.S. Treasury bills in November 2024.
However, challenges persist. In July 2024, Bitfinex Securities refunded investors after a tokenized hotel project failed to meet its $500,000 fundraising goal, raising only $342,000.
Despite such setbacks, Bitfinex’s relocation reflects its confidence in El Salvador’s supportive regulatory landscape and the country’s ambitions to become a regional financial services leader.
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