Published: 15.04.2022
Article reading time:
2 minutes.
The Central Bank of Portugal has granted Bison Bank a license that will allow it to operate in the country as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP).
Bison Bank is owned by a Hong Kong private equity company. The Bank provides funds management services to both private and institutional clients. In the near future, Bison Bank management plans to create a separate division of Bison Digital Assets, which will function as a virtual asset platform. In addition, Bison Bank has become the first licensed bank in Portugal to offer custody and trading services for cryptocurrencies to large clients. The bank will be able to provide these services only in Portugal.
In the spring of 2021, laws were passed in the country regarding the regulation of cryptocurrencies and the licensing of companies working with digital assets. Later, the central bank issued the first license to Utrust, a company operating in the field of payments with cryptocurrencies. This allowed the platform to provide the Portuguese with services related to cryptocurrency swaps and transactions, storage of crypto assets, as well as work with fiat currencies. Last summer, the regulator issued permissions for the Mind The Coin and Cryptoloja exchanges to operate in the country.
The Portuguese government has a clearer stance on the cryptocurrency industry compared to its European counterparts who are very wary of digital assets. Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts prefer to work or live in Portugal, as this country does not need to pay taxes on income from cryptocurrency transactions.
In addition, a few years ago, the Portuguese authorities proposed the creation of “Technological Free Zones” to conduct experiments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and 5G.
Source: Bits
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