Leading crypto exchange Bitget has reached a critical milestone for itself as it is the very first digital asset trading platform that has been granted a license to be a Bitcoin Service Provider via El Salvador’s Central Bank. The exchange announced this following President Nayib Bukele revealing El Salvador’s BTC holdings made an unrealized profit of $362 million.
The milestone of the exchange receiving a license as a service provider of the largest cryptocurrency comes amid rising returns on the amount of BTC held by El Salvador.
Bitget Licensing Coincides with El Salvador’s Growing Bitcoin Profits
On December 16, Bitget received a license of a Bitcoin Service Provider (BSP) from El Salvador’s central reserve bank, thereby authorizing it to provide different services based on BTC within the country. It includes the right to exchange fiat currencies, using it for various forms of payment and also offering secure custody.
The same day, President Nayib Bukele revealed that the country‘s BTC holdings notched an unrealized profit of around $362 million. According to Bukele, the country had invested around $270 million. The valuation for its 6,188 BTC holdings currently stands over $632 million. This happened at the same time the currency reached its new all-time high surpassing $107K.
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 16, 2024
While the financial gains highlight the potential of El Salvador’s Bitcoin strategy, skepticism from global institutions remains. Reports indicate the country is negotiating a $1.3 billion loan with the IMF. IMF could recommend changes to the country’s Bitcoin law, leading to significant regulatory shifts.
The BSP license granted to Bitget enables it to offer unique BTC-related services under local regulations. These services include Bitcoin-to-fiat exchanges, facilitating crypto payments, and secure custody solutions for traders.
First Exchange to Obtain the License of BTC Service Provider in El Salvador
This license solidifies El Salvador’s status as a pioneer in global BTC adoption, following its 2021 move to make Bitcoin legal tender. The BSP license will enable users to securely purchase, sell, store, and transfer Bitcoin directly on the Bitget platform.
Additionally, Bitget is expanding its services beyond BTC. The company has applied for a DASP license with El Salvador’s National Commission of Digital Assets, allowing it to offer a broader range of digital asset services.
Fostering Crypto Innovation in Latin America
Bitget sees El Salvador as a key market for crypto growth in Latin America. Min Lin, the company’s CBO, highlighted the country’s potential for innovation and leading role in driving the crypto space forward.
“Latin America holds immense promise as a hub for crypto innovation, and this state stands out as a pioneer with its bold embrace of Bitcoin as legal tender,” Lin stated. “Securing the BSP license is a regulatory milestone for the company. We’re here to fuel the region’s growth by providing secure, accessible, and innovative BTC services.”
To further support its growth in this LATAM country, the exchange intends to build a local team on the ground. It believes the presence will increase service delivery and strengthen relationships with its users in the country.
The license granted to Bitget’s BSP is aligned with its broader expansion strategy in Latin America, a region of growing crypto adoption. Many countries in the region are adopting cryptocurrencies for financial inclusion, remittances, and stability in economies plagued by volatile fiat currencies.
Beyond LATAM, the exchange has expanded across Europe with Virtual Asset Service Provider licenses in Poland and Lithuania. The exchange re-entered the UK market by forging a strategic partnership with Archax under the FCA’s Financial Promotions Regime.
At the time of writing, after surpassing its all-time high of $107K, Bitcoin price was hovering around $105,946, up by 2.79%.
Teuta Franjkovic
Teuta is a seasoned writer and editor with over 15 years of expertise in macroeconomics, technology, and the crypto and blockchain sectors.
She began her career in 2005 as a lifestyle writer for *Cosmopolitan* before transitioning to business and economic reporting for renowned outlets like *Forbes* and *Bloomberg*.
Inspired by thought leaders like Don and Alex Tapscott and Laura Shin, Teuta embraced blockchain’s potential, viewing cryptocurrency as one of humanity’s most transformative innovations.
Since 2014, she has specialized in fintech, focusing on crypto, blockchain, NFTs, and Web3. Known for her strong collaboration and communication skills, Teuta also holds dual MAs in Political Science and Law.
Disclaimer: The presented content may include the personal opinion of the author and is subject to market condition. Do your market research before investing in cryptocurrencies. The author or the publication does not hold any responsibility for your personal financial loss.
Dogecoin overtakes Bitcoin in daily transactions as DRC-20 capitalizes on Ordinals hype FXStreet
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Natasha Dailey
- Ukraine is reaching out to meme investors to support its defense against Russian forces.
- The country has raised more than $50 million worth of crypto and has even begun accepting dogecoin.
- “Now even meme can support our army and save lives from Russian invaders,” Ukraine’s vice prime minister said.
Ukraine is capitalizing on an unlikely movement to fund its military: meme investing.
As Ukraine defends itself against Russian forces, the country has been using its Twitter account to reach out to retail investors obsessed with memes, crypto, and Elon Musk. The concept of investing based on popular social media trends and memes took off last year, when millions of retail traders mobilized on Reddit and powered massive rallies in stocks like GameStop and cryptocurrencies like dogecoin and shiba inu.
In a matter of days, Ukraine has raised a whopping $54 million worth of cryptocurrency in the form of bitcoin, ether, and polkadot, since posting its digital wallet addresses on Twitter, Elliptic data show. On Tuesday, Ukraine announced it was even accepting donations of the original meme-token dogecoin.
“Now even meme can support our army and save lives from Russian invaders,” Ukraine Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on Twitter, noting that the value of dogecoin exceeded the Russian ruble, which has tumbled against the US dollar in the wake of crippling sanctions on the country’s economy.
As part of the tweet, Fedorov, who is also the country’s head of digital transformation, tagged Tesla chief Elon Musk — an icon among meme-savvy investors who is known for pushing crypto, especially dogecoin, while moving markets and angering regulators with his tweets.
Though Musk hasn’t yet replied to the dogecoin tweet from the Ukrainian minister, he responded to a previous call to provide a connection to Starlink’s satellite internet. Musk promptly tweeted back, “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine.”
As part of the country’s crypto fundraising efforts, it previously announced an airdrop, which according to CoinDesk, is is a marketing tool that distributes tokens to community members in the hopes of more people participating in a crypto project. The country ended up canceling the airdrop but said it will soon announce NFTs “to support Ukrainian Armed Forces,” Fedorov tweeted Thursday.
NFTs, which are digital tokens tied to blockchain technology, have already been helping Ukraine. One donor gifted a CryptoPunk worth at least $200,000 to the country. On top of that, a crypto collective called the UkraineDAO sold an NFT of a Ukrainian flag for $6 million to support the country. Others have been simply transferring their NFTs to the country’s wallet in support of the cause.
The country has sought crypto donations since Russia’s military invaded Ukraine last week. The two countries held a second round of cease-fire talks Thursday after Putin’s forces captured a major Ukrainian city. The Russian invasion prompted widespread sanctions from the West that have hit the country’s fiat currency and its economy hard.
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