Bison Bank will be the first bank in the country to offer digital asset services to people who have a lot of money.
Banco de Portugal has approved Bison Bank to run as a “virtual asset service provider” (VASP), making it the first bank in Portugal to get the OK from the regulator. Bison Bank is based in Portugal.
On Thursday, the Bank of Portugal added “Bison Digital Assets” to its list of virtual asset service providers. This is the country’s fifth licenced crypto exchange. A new company has been set up to work under Bison Bank, which is owned by a Chinese private equity firm that is based in Hong Kong. According to local media, the company will offer crypto services to high-net-worth customers.
In April 2021, laws were passed that required cryptocurrency exchanges to be licenced by the central bank. Soon after, in June of that year, the exchanges Mind The Coin and Criptoloja were given licences to operate in the country. These were the first two VASPs that could work in the country.
It was the first VASP licence that covered “all categories” and was given to Utrust in March 2021. This meant that the exchange could do things like make crypto-to-crypto swaps, send money to wallet addresses, and keep and store private keys. Bison Bank has also been given a licence for all types of businesses.
Portugal has long been thought of as a country that is friendly to crypto and a tax haven for people who make money with crypto. As long as cryptocurrency is not the only source of an individual’s income, there are no capital gains taxes or personal income taxes on it. This is because Portugal doesn’t consider cryptocurrency to be an asset.
In April 2020, the country announced that it was planning to set up “Technological Free Zones” (ZLTs), places where businesses could test new products and services. The country said it was looking into blockchain technology as part of its digital transformation plan.
In October 2021, the Portuguese government said it was going to work with public and private sector businesses, as well as experts, to come up with a National Blockchain Strategy. The group has been looking into how the country could use the technology, as well as figuring out what rules apply.
The Portuguese government thinks a draught of the strategy will be out at the end of this month. The final version will be out in June 2022.