Colombia: Bancolombia launches a new crypto-exchange and the stablecoin Peso

In Colombia, the banking conglomerate Bancolombia has launched Wenia, its new crypto-exchange, and has announced the introduction of a new stablecoin anchored to the Colombian peso.

Colombia and the launch of the new crypto-exchange and Bancolombia’s Peso stablecoin

In Colombia, it seems that the banking conglomerate, as well as one of the main banks in Latin America, Bancolombia, is venturing into the crypto sector. 

And indeed, Bancolombia has launched its new crypto-exchange Wenia, also introducing the new stablecoin anchored to the Colombian peso. With Wenia, users will be able to buy, convert, receive, send, and sell cryptocurrencies.

Not only that, the new stablecoin (which promises a 1:1 parity with the Colombian peso), that the platform is introducing is called COPW. 

The goal is also to gain market share from the famous crypto-exchanges Binance and Bitso, offering a local platform with new high levels of security linked to the financial group. 

Wenia aims to onboard more than 60,000 customers in its first year of operation, in line with the potential of Colombia as the third country in Latin America with the highest adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Colombia: Bancolombia launches the crypto-exchange Wenia and the stablecoin COPW

To comment on the new news, the new CEO of Wenia, Pablo Arboleda, has spoken:

“With the consolidation of Wenia, developed with high security standards and industry best practices, today we begin to concretize this path in which we want to provide our customers with a reliable experience and a new way to use their money. Our goal is to accompany people to connect with the cryptocurrency side in a more accessible, inclusive, and efficient way.”

The new crypto platform signed by Bancolombia aims to be accessible to both experienced users and beginners in the cryptocurrency sector. 

Furthermore, it seems that the digital assets with which Wenia will start besides COPW are Bitcoin, Ether, USDC, MATIC. Wenia’s gateway is COPW, with which customers will be able to convert into any of these assets.

Even Juan Carlos Mora, president of the Bancolombia Group, commented as follows:

“As an organization, we have been working for almost a decade on creating solutions that facilitate the adoption and use of digital assets and blockchain technology. Consequently, we quickly responded to the adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador. We are proud to deliver to the country this new company with which we are committed to leading technology towards a more dynamic future accessible to all. We know that with Wenia we are strengthening financial inclusion, while also contributing to the continuous development of the country’s digital economy.”

The meeting between President Gustavo Petro and Samson Mow of JAN3

Last November, the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, met with Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3 to discuss Bitcoin and Blockchain.

Already on that occasion, rumors were talking about the possibility for Petro to consider adopting Bitcoin as a legal currency, as happened in El Salvador. 

In reality, everything has been denied by Petro’s own statements, which affirm that the main topic of the discussion was blockchain technology and its use cases. 

Specifically, Petro seems to be more interested in Blockchain applied to billing in the healthcare sector.