Bitfinex receives El Salvador’s first digital asset license

Bitfinex Securities El Salvador has become the first crypto company to be granted a digital assets license by the El Salvador government. 

Bitfinex achieves a new milestone with the El Salvador license

In a blog post on April 11, 2023, Bitfinex Securities El Salvador received the license from El Salvador’s national digital asset commission, to function as a digital asset service provider in the Central American country. 

The license, which was granted after the passage of the Digital Assets Issuance law in January 2023, will enable the newly established Bitfinex Securities El Salvador to offer a regulated platform for companies globally “to issue a broad range of digital assets including equities, bonds, and other financial instruments.”

“We see considerable demand both from issuers and investors for the products made possible under the new regulations, which include tokenized shares, yield-bearing assets, and other investment products.” 

Jesse Knutson, head of operations at Bitfinex Securities

The blog post also said that the new approval is part of Bitfinex’s goal to encourage increased financial inclusion and freedom in El Salvador while offering large and marginalized companies, as well as retail investors the opportunity to access global markets.

Bitfinex Securities stated that there are already small and large issuances in the pipeline which would be announced throughout the rest of 2023. 

“We are delighted to be the first company to be awarded this license. It  will enable Bitfinex Securities to facilitate the issuance and secondary trading of assets with clearly defined rights and obligations as outlined in the new digital asset regulatory regime.”

Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino

El Salvador made history in 2021 as the first country in the world to make bitcoin a legal tender. Since then, the Central American country along with its President Nayib Bukele has continued to support bitcoin, even making some BTC purchases. The government’s proposed eco-friendly Bitcoin City recently won a global award.