The rise in the use of cryptocurrencies has been increasing in recent years in Ecuador. More and more citizens are interested in their purchase, and even in conducting transactions through various web applications.

A solid survey Minsait payments detailed that 46% of people with a bank account in Latin America were willing to buy and transact with cryptocurrencies. It was precisely stated that the greatest interest in this topic was shown by Honduras, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.

The report, which included collaboration with International Financial Analysts (AFI), mentions that in the case of Ecuador, bank respondents who used cryptocurrencies did so in person and online (16.3%).

“I prefer to keep money in less risky policies than cryptocurrencies,” says the retiree who has fixed deposits, investments that add up to $28.617 million in savings in Ecuador

The chain analysis company In its 2022 study on the global adoption of crypto assets, Ecuador was ranked among the top 20 countries in terms of global adoption.

“Users in countries with weaker economies tend to rely on cryptocurrencies for remittances and, if inflation is high, to preserve savings, while users in more developed markets like Brazil treat cryptocurrencies more as a speculative investment,” it said.

A study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recalled that it did not explicitly ban the trade in cryptocurrencies in Ecuador, but said that they are not an authorized payment method.

In February 2022, the Monetary Board, by resolution JRPM-2022-005-M, indicated that the legal tender is the US dollar and that all transactions will be denominated in that currency.

“Crypto assets are not considered legal tender in our country, nor are they a nationally authorized means of electronic payment,” he said. central bank.

This, despite the fact that a month earlier, the director of the institution, Guillermo Avellán, had expected in an interview with Bloomberg Line that they were going to present a regulation for these.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that Latin America and the Caribbean are leading the way in the adoption of digital money, with particular emphasis on the progress of some countries in introducing central bank digital currencies (MDBCs).

What to consider before buying cryptocurrencies

MDBC are a form of digital money issued by the central bank, i.e. they are digital versions of physical money. Within institutions, it is proposed as a method of improving the payment system.

Ecuador analysis

According to the IMF, by adopting crypto-assets, Latin American countries seek to gain “protection from uncertain internal macroeconomic conditions, circumvention of capital controls, better financial inclusion of the unbanked population, cheaper and faster payments, and greater competition.”

It was specified that only 12 jurisdictions in the region have a special regulatory framework or are in the process of creating one, in the case of Ecuador there is none.

As for MDBC, IMF analysis includes Ecuador among the countries they research or study.

“For most respondents, MDBCs were a way to strengthen their payment systems and expand access. They considered financial inclusion and monetary sovereignty to be crucial factors in favor of retail CMDBs, as they facilitate the integration of the unbanked and discourage monetary substitution with stablecoins or crypto-assets,” said the analysis prepared by Rina Bhattacharya, Dmitry Vasilyev and Mauricio Villafuerte.