Colombia President Gustavo Petro has reportedly joined the Bitcoin race by becoming a holder of the top cryptocurrency. The move follows a recent meeting that he had with a delegation led by the founder of JAN3, Samson Mow.
JAN3 is a Bitcoin technology company focused on expanding its access and financial freedom around the world. It has been at the forefront of $BTC‘s nation-state adoption.
As per reports, the meeting was focused on exploring the integration of $BTC and blockchain technology into Colombia’s socio-economic fabric. An image with President Petro posted on X by Mow revealed: “The President of Colombia is now a Bitcoin HODLer for sure. 100,000 sats [0.001 BTC] to be exact.”
Mow also shared a video where the Colombian President talked about opening working groups in public administration, as well as in grassroots communities, in order to enhance them through this new technology. To this, the JAN3 founder replied saying: “Thank you President Petro Gustavo for the welcoming message. We’re excited to help Colombia to move forward. And don’t lose your Bitcoin!”
The tech company’s post, on the other hand, hinted at how the country is open to altering its policies: “Is Bitcoin usage in Colombia likely to usher in new policies? Definitely maybe. The JAN3 team met with Petro Gustavo to discuss its potential implementation in social projects.”
The CEO of IOVLabs, Diego ‘Aequalitatem Honoris’ Gutierrez-Zaldivar, was also present at the meeting. The company is known for building low-cost, highly secure, easy-to-use platforms for the new global economy. The top executive thanked President Petro for receiving the lot and sharing in the “commitment to create a more prosperous society”.
The meeting was held at the Casa de Nariño and revolved around discussions of the growing interest and potential government support for Bitcoin and blockchain technology in Colombia.
Participants included renowned blockchain technology experts Samson Mow, Diego Gutiérrez, Raúl Velásquez, Edwin Rivas, Cristian Quintero, and Mauricio Tovar.
Just a few days back, Mow visited Suriname to meet with its president, Chan Santokhi, and other government officials. The exec had talks about developing a potential Bitcoin strategy to transform the South American country’s economic model. He also hinted that the central bank could invest 1% of its reserves in $BTC, amongst various other things that were deliberated in the meeting.
Bitcoin in Colombia
While cryptocurrencies are not regulated in the country, President Petro has taken the first step in embracing the sector as he actively explores the use of $BTC in the national economy through cooperatives.
He reportedly also seeks to utilise blockchain technology in various public sectors such as health billing, management of the Special Assets Society (SAE), and land restitution processes.
Colombia has been in the grey area when it comes to regulatory clarity regarding cryptocurrencies. Even though the Financial Superintendency has been conducting a pilot plan for its use for the past few years, the results are still pending.
The potential policy shift, as proposed by the president, will also have to wait until further developments in the regulatory area are made in the country.
Latin America has been at the forefront of Bitcoin adoption, spearheaded by El Salvador which became the first in the world to make digital currency Bitcoin legal tender within the country in 2021. Last year, its President Nayib Bukele announced a country-level dollar cost averaging (DCA) plan, promising to buy one Bitcoin every day.
At that time, as per public statements from Bukele, the country was already the owner of 2,381 $BTC purchased at an average price of roughly $44,300.
The top coin was changing hands for $38,607 at the time of press. It had been up by over 2% daily and almost 3% weekly as it enjoyed a trade in the green.
