Two national enterprises in the field of cryptocurrencies, open and Urubit, they will install the first cryptocurrency ATM “UTM” in Uruguay. There, the two digital currencies created by the companies can be traded: Ferret Token and Urubit, as reported by El País.
To operate, users must download an electronic wallet connected to the internet, through which they can purchase Ferret Tokens and Urubits, but they can also exchange these for bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Adolfo Varela, founder of inBierto, explained that his startup has its own electronic wallet called the U-Wallet, but transactions can be made with anyone who has the option to use a QR code. Varela added that the transaction cost within the network is 3%, which is redistributed among all the people who have a Ferret Tokens or Urubits in their wallet.
The idea is to install it on January 1, in Punta del Este, more precisely in the Devoto supermarket on Stop 12 in Roosevelt. Then they plan to install another ATM in Montevideo in the “run of summer”, and later expand to the rest of the country and the region, said Varela.
Currently cryptocurrencies are not regulated but the red senator Carmen Sanguinetti and the nationalist Juan Sartori intend to give them a framework regulatory. Sartori assured that “Uruguay can go for a responsible regulation to generate a new industry“. For his part, Sanguinetti commented that this type of exchange” reduces the cost per transaction for an individual compared to a traditional operation “and achieves it faster. He added that regulation is important to” protect consumers and investors, as well as the integrity of the financial markets, in relation to financial stability “.
Varela agrees that it is “necessary a regulation” that enables bankarization and allows companies to operate, in addition to defining issues related to consumer protection, among others. There is “a lot of business opportunity, many uses that blockchain technology allows that, if we don’t regulate it quickly and take advantage of it, the train will pass us by,” he concluded.
