The specialist warns that regulation of the industry in Panama is slow, which he sees as positive.
Towerbank is a bank with more than 50 years of experience that offers a cryptocurrency wallet.
An executive from Towerbank, a Panamanian bank with more than half a century of existence, released details of its initiatives in the bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency industry.
This is Gabriel Campa, the head of the digital assets area at the bank, who has designed and led Towerbank’s entire cryptocurrency business.
In an interview with CriptoNoticias, Campa talked about how they decided to become a cryptocurrency-friendly bank to his current perspective on the price of bitcoin (BTC). In addition, he detailed what interest they are seeing in the market from investors from different parts of Latin America and their vision of the regulation of the industry in Panama.
The conversation took place at LABITCONF, a Latin American bitcoin conference that had its 12th annual edition last weekend in Buenos Aires, Argentina, under the name Restart. This event brought together users, officials, specialists and entrepreneurs from the cryptoasset ecosystem, including the Towebank team and Ikigii, the bank’s new wallet for users in Latin America.
It is possible to read the complete interview we had with Campa below.
How did a bank with such a long history get into this industry?
The key was that we realized that we had clients working with cryptoassets and we wanted to understand it better. This was during the pandemic. When we started talking to them, we discovered that they were being rejected by the banks and that there was a huge opportunity for the bank to reinvent itself or restart as the name of LABITCONF this year.
So we started to cooperate with them, understand what they needed and a few months later I held an event. I invited 40 people from the community to understand it better, tell them what we wanted to do, who we were. There I declared that the bank was a bank crypto friendly. It went viral and we began to understand this industry better.
We saw that it was a huge business opportunity. Now, what has helped us do it? We are a 54-year-old bank, single family ownedwith a very good relationship with those responsible, very good relationship with the regulator. So, there is trust. They knew we were going to do well.
We have not grown exponentially. We have been little by little understanding it, complying with the regulatory part, understanding the business, improving services. We’ve been doing this for two years. Now we have Ikigii which is going to be our platform to reach the Latin American market.
Since you talked about Ikigii, What is this initiative about?
Ikigii is the first cryptocurrency wallet that is also a dollar bank account in Panama, the best of both worlds. It is a regulated bank with access to international transfers.
Every crypto relationship is guarded by a fiduciary. So cryptocurrencies are always the client’s. The bank does not buy, sell, or custody cryptocurrencies. The bank has no exposure to cryptocurrencies. So, you have the fiat world and you have the cryptocurrency world.
It is a cryptocurrency wallet that allows you to buy, sell, send and receive. That’s what we’re offering today.
And in the coming months we will start offering loans secured with bitcoin. You give us your bitcoin and we give you a loan in dollars.
Is this wallet designed for users from Panama?
No, for all of Latin America. The advantage in Panama is that there is no restriction on opening foreign accounts. You do not have to be a Panamanian citizen or Panamanian resident to open an account in Panama.
And why did you decide to participate in this event here in Buenos Aires?
LABITCONF is one of the most important events in the region. I have been coming for several years and it is a good opportunity to show the world or Argentines what we can do and what we can offer for them.
But I think the key in all this is being part of the community. And this is a way to be part of the community and support the community, in the same way that we are supporting the founders by being part of the Argentine Bitcoin NGO. It’s how we connect more to them.
Do you notice differences in adoption in Panama compared to Argentina?
Yes, at the end of the day Panama is dollarized and we do not have the inflationary problem that Argentina or other countries have. So, if you look at where crypto is strongest in the world, it is Argentina, Türkiye, countries that have inflation problems.
Panama, being a dollarized country, does not have the need to resort to cryptocurrencies to protect itself from exchange control or the devaluation of its currency.
Maybe now with the reduction in interest rates in the United States, which impacts the dollar, do you notice greater interest in bitcoin, for example?
I believe that in part the reduction of rates has helped, but it is the adoption… There are more banks getting involved. There are more companies getting involved. It is already being seen as a real asset as it is.
There are companies that did not want to get involved if they did not do it through a bank. Now there are banks in the United States that are starting to offer the service. Now there you are going to dare to invest. You have companies that are already considering investing in cryptocurrencies.
Do you see more retail or business adoption in Panama?
We have companies that operate with Latin America and have turned to cryptocurrencies because they work with countries where they have exchange control or have sanctions problems. So, these companies that sell to those countries have turned to cryptocurrencies to get paid.
We give you peace of mind that the cryptocurrencies you will receive do not come from dubious origins, you will receive the dollars that you are looking for and everything is backed by your invoice. So we are doing due diligence to comply with the regulations.
What do you think of the regulations in Panama?
Look… regulation in Panama is a little slow, but it’s not a bad thing. We as a bank and as a regulated entity have the tools required to comply with international and local regulations.
I think that regulation is necessary, but I think that we must go little by little with regulation because this is a new technology that we still do not know 100% of and it is much more transparent than the traditional banking world. So we have to go little by little.
The fact that there is no regulation does not stop us from doing what we do. But, I don’t really need regulation to do what I do. I am already a bank, I am already a regulated entity, I already know how to do my due diligence, I already know how to prevent money laundering, which is what is required of me…
Speaking more about markets, when do you think bitcoin’s maximum peak will be in this cycle?
Let’s hope it’s soon. It’s getting stronger and stronger. It is going up more and more. More and more larger companies are emerging in the United States that would have invested in cryptocurrencies in their lives and are now willing to invest. Banks are coming out to say that they are going to accept it.
I believe that, as more big players enter the industry, that will help the price rise further. He is becoming more and more solid and if he had a fall yesterday, he has already recovered. He will always have his fall, but every day he recovers faster.
What is the maximum price you see for this cycle?
I’m hearing people saying 80,000… 100,000… I would get closer to $100,000 this year.
