Sunacrip, the Venezuelan cryptocurrency watchdog, has suspended the operating licenses of two exchanges for lack of compliance with current regulations. The announcement was made by Joselit Ramirez, superintendent of Sunacrip, who also mentioned the exchanges that are approved by the institution, leaving some big names like Binance off of the list.
Sunacrip Tightens Compliance Requirements For Exchanges In Venezuela
Sunacrip, the institution in charge of the regulation of all things crypto in Venezuela, has announced it has revoked the trading licenses of two exchange platforms on January 26. The superintendent of the organization, Joselit Ramirez, made the announcement via Twitter, stating:
WE INFORM all our users that two general operating licenses of the exchange houses Criptomundo and Cave Blockchain have been REVOKED, for not complying with the rules established by Sunacrip to operate in our country.
While Ramirez didn’t disclose the specific reasons for these licenses being revoked, he did mention all of the exchanges that were still authorized by Sunacrip to conduct exchange operations in the country. Among these are Criptoactivos Amberes Coin, Asesoría Financiera IO, Criptoex, Criptoven Trade, Digital Factoring, Venecrip, and the Patria Platform, which is operated by the government.
Other exchanges authorized by Sunacrip, but that are not operating due to technical issues are Crixto Vzla, Exchange Vzla, Canjeable Ticketven, Financieras 1444, CriptoExchange, and Criptoactivos Bancar.
International Exchanges in Gray Area
While the list offered by Ramirez was extensive, it left some names out of the equation. Exchanges like Binance, which have a significant foothold in Venezuela, were not mentioned, leaving the presence of these operations in the country in a gray area. Currently, Binance P2P, the part of the exchange that allows users to connect and trade cryptocurrencies and fiat money, has one of the biggest exchange operations in Venezuela.
Also, other international exchanges that Venezuelans can use to manage and transact cryptocurrencies are not authorized. This means that if users of these exchanges face any problems using them, there would be no guarantees regarding the activities. Lastly, Ramirez made a recommendation for users to abstain from using non-authorized services, to “guarantee the legitimacy of the operations and support for the services offered.”
Venezuela was one of the first countries in Latam to boast a comprehensive cryptocurrency regulation system, two years before El Salvador introduced its “Bitcoin Law,” making the crypto legal tender. Sunacrip also strengthened the KYC requirements for virtual asset service providers on May 3rd, last year.
