Ecuador Central Bank Issues Crypto Warning as Wordcoin Adoption Rises

cryptonews.com:

The Ecuador Central Bank has warned citizens about the dangers of crypto as Worldcoin (WLD) adoption continues to increase in the Latin American nation.

Per an official Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) statement and a report from CriptoNoticias, “several thousand” citizens have scanned their irises at Worldcoin offices around the nation.

The BCE stated that cryptoassets “are not legal tender” in Ecuador. It reminded citizens that the use of crypto as a means of payment method is “expressly prohibited.”

The bank noted that per the regulatory Junta de Política y Regulación Monetaria (Monetary Policy and Regulation Board)’s guidelines, “the [only] legal currency in the Republic of Ecuador is the USD.” The BCE said:

“All transactions, monetary, and financial operations and their accounting records carried out in the country must be conducted in United States dollars.”

The JPRM and the BCE said they wanted to “remind individuals and legal entities that cryptoassets are not legal tender, nor an authorized means of payment in Ecuador.”

And the BCE warned that if it discovers firms or citizens using “cryptoassets as a means of payment,” it will inform the Attorney General’s Office and press for punishment.

However, the bank conceded that per Chainalysis, Ecuador ranks eighth in LATAM for crypto adoption.

Ecuador ex-President Correa's party taps Luisa Gonzalez as presidential candidate https://t.co/DG1oCEBGf3 pic.twitter.com/JypsKqTvGv

The bank also noted that experts think some $7 billion worth of crypto transactions were carried out in Ecuador between June 2022 and July 2023.

The BCE made no mention of WLD or high-cap tokens like Bitcoin (BTC). However, it appears that the rise of Worldcoin in Ecuador has piqued regulators’ concerns.

Worldco