Peru is studying crypto exchanges to figure out future laws

A Peruvian regulator authority said on October 26 that studies currently performed on local crypto exchanges will keep on going despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as the country is looking to find ways to regulate the national crypto industry.

According to local news outlet Gestion, Superintendent of the Financial Intelligence Unit of Peru (UIF) Sergio Espinosa pointed out the need to work out the policy behind cryptocurrencies in the country. Espinosa called it a “priority”:

“One of the topics that we have not stopped is a diagnosis — which is being done — of the presence and scope in Peru of so-called virtual assets, including Bitcoin and other virtual assets that are not currencies, but that exist, trade and circulate, so there is a need to put out regulation on the matter.”

During his participation in the IV International Congress on Compliance and the Fight Against Corruption organized by the Word Compliance Association and the Lima Chamber of Commerce, Espinosa remarked on Peru's lack of knowledge of the crypto sector, calling it uncharted territory.

Espinosa further said that studies into local crypto exchanges began in August as part of the UIF activities to collect enough information to figure out future laws for the crypto sphere in Peru.

Although the supervisor didn’t provide more details as to which exchanges were on the financial watchdog's radar, he commented that additional studies were added during September and most of research will last between 19 and 22 business days “from the preparation of the notification documents to the issuance of the final report on the results of the same.”

Peruvian authorities have not established a clear position on cryptocurrencies, although the COVID-19 pandemic, as in many other countries, has fueled the development of blockchain technology in the nation.

A recent glimpse into Peruvian crypto regulation came from the Congress of the Republic of Peru, who promulgated a law on October 22 that establishes an electronic means of payment as a public necessity.