Cuba is all set to recognize and regulate Bitcoin and other crypto coins as means of payment. This is detailed in a ministry of justice resolution published on 27 Aug 2021. The resolution is signed by Cuba’s central bank’s minister-president Marta Sabina Wilson González.

The document, which was published in the Official Gazette, describes that the central bank will provide a framework to determine how they will license financial service providers for the facilitation of crypto transactions. The central bank can further authorize Bitcoin transactions “for reasons of socio-economic interest” while maintaining state control of the coin’s operations.

Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz Canel previously considered the use of crypto back in May 2021, citing the “convenience” of their use as part of the country’s economy.

This Central American country has been hit with a number of U.S. restrictions in recent years; only in July of this year, President Biden instructed a review of Trump-era policies that restrict the options for U.S.-Cuba remittances.

Payments to Cuba are estimated to be around $2 to $3 billion a year.

The global remittance sector has shown rapid interest in Bitcoin and stable coins like USDT, USDC, DAI & BUSD as they provide a considerably cheaper and faster option for overseas workers to send money home to their families when compared to other leading payments service providers like Western Union.

Cuba is on the footsteps of El Salvador with its latest move, although it isn’t recognizing Bitcoin as legitimate tender. The resolution clarifies that “the monetary unit of the Republic of Cuba is the Cuban peso, and that the banknotes and metallic coins supplied by the Central Bank of Cuba are the only ones that have legitimate tender status.”

Bitcoin has increased its popularity in Cuba among citizens looking to move their savings out of the country’s weak currency; a growing part of the population already uses Bitcoin and other cryptos for payments or to receive their salary. Data released by Trading View earlier this year showed that more than half (50.4%) of all inquiries on the platform from within Cuba were crypto-related.