Mexico’s central bank has cautioned the nation’s banks that cryptocurrencies are untouchable — a day after bitcoin got a fitting from one of the country’s most powerful billionaires.
“This present country’s financial institutions are not approved to direct or offer to the public transactions with virtual assets like Bitcoin,” the Bank of Mexico said in an explanation on Monday.
“Whoever issues or offers such instruments will be considered answerable for disregarding those guidelines and will be dependent upon the applicable assents,” the bank added.
The assertion by Mexico’s central bank, which has autonomy from the nation’s chosen government, was generally seen as a censure of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s nearest partner in the business world.
A day sooner, Ricardo Salinas Pliego — a very rich person businessman who runs banking, telecommunications and retail companies and is politically lined up with Obrador — embraced bitcoin on social media.
“Bitcoin is a decent method to broaden your investment portfolio and I figure each financial backer should examine cryptocurrencies and their future,” Salinas Pliego composed.
Banco Azteca — a bank claimed by Salinas Pliego that likewise has tasks in unmistakably favorable to bitcoin El Salvador — was chipping away at approaches to permit individuals from the public to purchase cryptocurrencies, the tycoon said.
“At Banco Azteca, we are attempting to carry them to our customers and keep advancing opportunity,” he said.