The crypto industry went from being disregarded as a medium that facilitates illicit activities to being recognized as a legal currency in many countries. This impeccable journey has been lauded by many. Several governments have been extending support to the market in many ways. Portugal did so by giving out its very first crypto license to Bison Bank.
Portugal’s central bank, Banco de Portugal had reportedly given out permission to Bison Bank to provide digital asset services in the region. The bank is all set to formulate a separate entity called Bison Digital Assets. This platform will further act as a digital asset exchange in the region. While this would be the first thank in the country to garner a crypto license, four other platforms have previously acquired this license.
Its very first crypto license was given to the exchange Utrust. Following this, the “virtual asset service provider ” [VASP] license was given to two other exchanges, Mind The Coin and Criptoloja.
Furthermore, Bison Digital Assets would be operating under Bison Bank. Despite being located in Portugal, the platform is entirely held by a Chinese capital firm situated in Hong Kong.
Portugal: a crypto hub in the making?
Apart from port wine and football, Portugal is known for being crypto-friendly. Countries like India have been imposing heavy taxes on the profits acquired via crypto without even legalizing it. In Portugal, however, there is no tax on capital gains or even personal income taxes on trading crypto. The government views digital assets as a medium of payment as opposed to a currency.
One Twitter user did some research and pointed out that Portugal was the friendliest country in the world, apart from not taxing crypto.
This could undoubtedly pave the way for more platforms veering into the Portugal market to set up a business or simply trade digital assets.