Bison Bank Approved to be Portuguese First VASP Licensed Bank

Portuguese bank Bison Bank has received authorization from the Central Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal) to operate as a "virtual asset service provider" (VASP), giving the country's first bank the green light of the regulator.

On Thursday, Banco de Portugal updated its list of virtual asset service providers by adding "Bison Digital Assets" as the country's fifth licensed crypto exchange. The company is newly established to operate under Bison Bank, which is wholly owned by a Hong Kong-based Chinese private equity firm, and will position its crypto services to high net worth clients according to local media.

In April 2021, laws were established to regulate cryptocurrency exchanges under a licensing regime managed by the central bank. There, later that year in June, licenses were granted to the exchanges Mind The Coin and Criptoloja, the first two VASPs allowed to operate in the country.

In March 2021, the regulator granted the first "all-class" VASP license to Utrust, allowing the exchange to offer crypto-to-crypto exchanges, transfers to wallet addresses, and private key custody and storage. in addition to providing a fiat ramp. Bison Bank also obtained an all-class license.

Portugal has long been considered a crypto-friendly country and a crypto tax haven. There are no capital gains or personal income tax on cryptocurrency unless it is an individual's sole income, as Portugal considers cryptocurrency as a form of payment or currency, not as an asset.

In April 2020, the country laid out plans to create technology free zones (ZLTs), areas where companies can test products and services, with the country noting that it was considering testing blockchain technology as part of its digital transformation plan.

In October 2021, the Portuguese government announced that it was engaging public and private sector companies as well as experts to create a working group to develop a national blockchain strategy. The group studied how the country could apply the technology, while clarifying the regulatory conditions.

The Portuguese government expects a draft strategy to be published at the end of this month, with a final version published in June 2022.

Source: The New Zealand Times