Aproximación al tratamiento jurídico de los critpoactivos en Colombia

Abstract

Crypto-assets have been put on the market thanks to the Internet, so their existence is to some extent dependent on this medium. Now, crypto-assets can be classified, albeit informally, into cryptocurrencies and tokens. It is important to say then that, worldwide, the regulation that has been issued on the subject is not uniform, since States such as China have prohibited the exchange and even the mining of cryptocurrencies; others, on the contrary, as in the case of El Salvador, have adopted certain crypto-assets as legal tender; and another group more numerous than the previous ones, has issued timid regulations where in general it can be said that they have not prohibited operations but have warned investors about the risks that are present in this market. Colombia is part of the latter group, insofar as it has not prohibited operations with crypto-assets and has implemented pilot plans for controlled investment, in order to analyze the behavior of such operations and thus be able to subsequently issue an adequate regulation. Finally, it is important to mention that money laundering through crypto-assets has become a worldwide problem, therefore, issuing regulations on the subject is quite relevant insofar as by this means considerable amounts of illicit money can be integrated into the legal course almost without any control.