Chile: Central Bank warns against cryptocurrencies

The president of Chile’s Central Bank, Mario Marcel, issued a statement against the use of cryptocurrencies in the country, adding to the debate around this growing activity in Chile with a series of warnings for individuals and companies in the financial system.

“They are not a good means of payment, because their acceptance is very limited and they are not recognized as legal tender,” Marcel said. Many companies that have managed to raise funds from cryptocurrencies have felt a heavy blow following the collapse of the global market , where even the most powerful and well-known cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has lost up to 70% of its peak value. In addition, the profitability of so-called ‘mining’ operations (cryptocurrency generators) has also collapsed, affecting the security and capacity of the computer networks on which these currencies depend.

Against this background, the Central Bank has taken sides in the dispute pitting cryptocurrency operators against the traditional banking before the Court for the Defense of Free Competition (TDLC), arguing that “cryptoactives are not currently a good substitute for money and present a series of risks for people and for the financial system … “. The banks have been forced to keep the current accounts the companies dedicated to cryptocurrencies open, obeying a partial resolution by the TDLC at the end of last year.