Bitfinex becomes the first to receive a trading licence in El Salvador

On 11 April, El Salvador’s National Digital Assets Commission granted a licence to the local unit of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange.

We are now the world’s first international digital asset platform to receive approval for a Digital Asset Service Provider license under El Salvador’s new Digital Assets Issuance Law! A milestone for financial freedom in Latin America.@bitfinex https://t.co/88Mmmi5s6M

— Bitfinex Securities (@BFXSecurities) April 11, 2023

Bitfinex Securities El Salvador became the first organisation to receive permission to trade digital assets in the country. The company called it “an important milestone” on the path to financial independence in Latin America.

CTO Paolo Ardoino said the licence would allow the company to facilitate the issuance and secondary trading of assets with clearly defined rights and obligations set out in El Salvador’s new regime governing digital assets.

Bitfinex Securities El Salvador will operate independently of its parent company under the management of Bitfinex Securities Limited.

In September 2021, El Salvador authorities recognised Bitcoin as legal tender. The International Monetary Fund criticised the decision and recommended stripping the cryptocurrency of that status.

Earlier Ardoino supported El Salvador’s Bitcoin initiative. In his words, it would be shortsighted to judge the country’s success only a year after legalising the first cryptocurrency, given the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has actively supported cryptocurrencies and Web3 initiatives since taking office. In late March 2023 he drafted a bill to abolish all taxes on technological innovations.