Portugal-based Bison Bank has been granted permission by the county’s central bank to operate as a Virtual Asset Provider (VASP).
Local reports confirmed that this announcement makes Bison the first bank to receive regulatory approval to provide crypto custody and exchange services. Bison Digital Assets will continue to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Bison Bank.
Banco de Portugal updated its list of virtual asset service providers, adding Bison Digital Assets as the country’s fifth licensed crypto exchange.
The company was created to operate under Bison Bank, which is wholly owned by a Chinese private capital firm based in Hong Kong, and will provide crypto services to high net worth clients.
Portugal is known as a crypto-friendly country and a crypto tax haven.
Cryptocurrency income remains exempt from VAT and capital gains taxes unless it is derived from professional trading activity.
The Portuguese government has formed a working group of experts as well as public and private entities to formulate a sector-wide national blockchain strategy.
Portugal will announce its blockchain strategy in June
The government expects the strategy to be put out for consultation by the end of the month and its final version will be published in June.
In April 2020 the country plans to create Technological Free Zones (ZLTs), areas in which businesses can test products and services, the country underscored that it is testing blockchain technology as part of its digital transformation plan. Was.
Valentin Sotov, a software developer, also views Portugal as a major crypto market. Sotov, a refugee from Ukraine, is working on a crypto-based metaverse game called Ember. He added that Portugal “presents a huge opportunity for our product as we can work with a lot of IT people in one place.”
Portugal hosts the annual Web Summit, an important technology conference, and informal meetings in bars to discuss crypto topics.
Portuguese entrepreneurs have established a small number of private crypto startups, worth over $1 billion. Anchorage Digital, a digital asset bank with offices in northern Portugal, has a Portuguese founder.
Last year, the central bank classified Portuguese exchanges Cryptoloza and Mind the Coin as virtual asset service providers. There are currently five Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) listed on the central bank’s website.